Resident Doctors Lament Worsening Working Conditions

Resident doctors at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso in Oyo State have called for urgent intervention over what they described as worsening working conditions, severe understaffing and welfare challenges affecting medical personnel at the institution.

The doctors, under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), said they had been compelled to take a stand to protect their profession and dignity amid what they described as persistent neglect and unfulfilled promises.

The doctors in a statement jointly signed by the president of ARD, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Dr Mustapha Adedapo A. and the general secretary, Dr John Stephen, lamented that resident doctors continued to work under difficult conditions.

They identified severe understaffing, unpaid minimum wage arrears, unfulfilled allowance promises and dilapidated call rooms among the major challenges confronting them.

“Today, resident doctors of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, stand united. We took an oath to save lives, but today, we are forced to take a stand to save our own profession and dignity,” the statement said.

The association warned that a burnt-out and neglected doctor could not provide the quality healthcare patients deserved, stressing that its demands were centred on basic human dignity, fair compensation and adequate funding for medical residency training.

The doctors urged the Oyo State governor, the state government, the hospital management and other relevant stakeholders to urgently intervene and address their grievances.

“We are not asking for luxuries; we are demanding basic human dignity, fair compensation and the proper funding of medical residency training,” the association stated.

The doctors urged the authorities to resolve the outstanding issues and improve their welfare and working environment, saying this would enable them to concentrate fully on their primary responsibility of saving lives.

The association maintained that its members remained united in their struggle, insisting that urgent action was needed to address the challenges confronting the hospital and its medical workforce.