COVID-19: DOCTORS resist postings TO INFECTIOUS DISEASES CENTRE
The spiral effect of the Coronavirus (COVID- 19) pandemic last night shifted to the health sector as investigations revealed that some medical practitioners, mostly doctors, who were “apparently” seconded to a medical facility in Lagos State, have expressed disdain over their deployment in the wake of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.
Saturday Telegraph learnt that a number of factors were attributed for the doctors’ reluctance to accept the deployment, a development which health practitioners argue was already causing mixed reactions among the doctors, mostly from governments’ hospitals.
To underscore this fact, a highly placed medical doctor, who craved anonymity, told Saturday Telegraph, that some of these doctors, who were affected, “felt very reluctant” to accept the deployment simply because past experiences showed that past governments were not sincere to those assigned to carried out similar emergencies in the past.
The doctor said: “A young doctor that was posted to the infectious disease centre in Yaba this evening (Thursday evening) cried profusely when she got her letter asking her to report at the Mainland Hospital (National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) centre. She insisted that the posting was meant to punish her because according to her, her bosses had accused her of being lazy in the past.
“I am sure if she had an immediate option, she would have resigned immediately. You can’t blame the doctors who are reluctant to go to the centre. Ordinarily, doctors should see as a call to duty. But why will doctors risk their lives over mere N5,000 monthly hazard allowance?
At the threshold of this pandemic, the government asked CMDs to nominate doctors in their hospitals and the most senior nurses in such to come to Abuja for special training. In most cases, it was the CMDs that attended the training because they knew they would get allowances and some other benefits. When it is time to do the job, you are now pushing young doctors.
“The truth is that it is doctors and nurses that at the NCDC that were trained to handle the situation we are in now. But they have been overwhelmed. Hence, there is need to deploy additional hands. “In other climes, doctors are voluntarily coming out to assist because they know that if anything happens to them, their families and loved ones will be taken care of by the government.
This is not the case here. “For instance, the face masks, N95 masks, which doctors and health workers are supposed to be used by doctors and other medical personnel, have been hijacked by politicians, while the doctors are using the ordinary ones.
“The N95 masks will protect the health workers who are at risk of coming in contact with patients who have contracted the virus. “During the Ebola outbreak, Sierra Leonean government requested for doctors from different African govenments including the Nigerian government.
Culled from newtelegraphng.com
