By Chioma Obinna

Several patients seeking medical care in Lagos State government owned hospitals were stranded on Monday following disruptions in healthcare services as the Medical Guild began a three-day warning strike over irreconcilable differences with the State Government.

The Medical Guild which is the body of doctors under the employ of the Lagos State government,  is protesting what it describes as “illegal and disrespectful” salary deductions by the government.

The Guild is demanding the immediate reversal of July salary cuts and full payment of 12 months’ arrears owed to honorary consultants under the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

The strike, which commenced in the early hours of Monday and scheduled to run through the morning of Thursday July 31 was called following ratification by the body of doctors at an emergency congress held over the weekend.

In a statement on its X handle, the Medical Guild said the action followed repeated breaches by the government to honour the agreements.

Officials of the Medical Guild stated that the action followed failed attempts to resolve the matter through dialogue, warned that failure to meet the demands could lead to an indefinite strike, after a 21-day ultimatum that would follow the warning strike.

“We are prepared to escalate our measures if the government does not respond swiftly. The welfare of our members and the integrity of the health system are at stake,” an official noted.

A message to all the Guild members stated, “To all Medical Guild membes, we urge full compliance with the 3-day total warning strike. Our monitoring and strike enforcement team will be on patrol to ensure adherence. Sanctions will be implemented for non-compliance.”

When Vanguard visited someone the General Hospitals at Isolo and Alomosho, skeletal services were in place for in-patients and although emergency services remained operational, and the outpatient clinics were shut. Similar situation was observedvatbthe Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH)m

At Isolo General Hospital patients were left confused and stranded following the ongoing strike, and many of the patients who turned up early were turned back after waiting for hours and forced to go in search of alternative hospitals or returned home.

A nurse at the ENT department of Isolo General Hospital addressing waiting patients, explained that most doctors had withdrawn their services due to the ongoing strike.

According to her, only one consultant doctor had been begged to come in, and even the time of her arrival was uncertain.

“The doctors are on strike today. We only begged one of our consultants to come, and she’s on her way, but I don’t even know the time she’ll get here. Even on a normal day, she doesn’t come early. If she makes it, she will only attend to a few people—she cannot see a crowd,” the nurse announced.

She advised patients without prior appointments to consider rescheduling, saying the likelihood of being attended to was slim.

It was gathered that the situation is expected to worsen, as indications revealed that nurses across the country would join the strike on Tuesday.

“We don’t want to waste your time. If you like, you can wait, but it’s better to go and reappoint yourself. Tomorrow, nurses are joining, that means the clinical section will be shut down. It’s a nationwide strike. It will affect other hospitals too—even LUTH,” she added.

A patient who was visiting the ENT clinic for the first time without an appointment, appeared visibly frustrated. “I’ve never been here before. I just came to see a doctor,” she said, disappointed at being turned away.

The State Government had appealed for calm and urged the Guild to suspend the strike.  

saying all the grievances are being looked into with utmost sincerity and urgency, even as negotiations and engagements with the Medical Guild were ongoing.