By Margaret John
Resident Doctors in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital have issued a 21-day ultimatum to the management of the hospital to respond to its concerns regarding the exclusion of its members from the payment of arrears and salaries owed in the last four months to one year.
The decision which was taken during an emergency general meeting of the Association of Resident Doctors UCTH Chapter (ARD-UCTH) held in Calabar on Friday was stated in a communiqué signed by Dr. Antigha Cobham and Esuaiko Akaniyene , President and Secretary respectively, and issued at the end of the meeting and made available to our newsroom.
According to the communiqué, the Association expressed displeasure in certain areas affecting its members’ welfare which has been neglected for too long, including the “decision of the management of UCTH to pay the 25% August 2017 shortfall arrears to those affected, excluding the set of House Officers that have just completed their posting without recourse and information to the ARD-UCTH.”
The Association also protested that despite the 25% August 2017 short arrears, a number of irregularities have been noted in the payment of some Resident/Medical Officers ranging from incomplete payment of expected amount to some Medical Officers, non-payment to others and a backlog of salary arrears ranging from one to four months being owed the out gone officers and Registrars.
Furthermore, in the light of these occurrences, the Association resolved among other things to issue a 21-day ultimatum “to allow ample time for all the highlighted issues to be resolved expeditiously”, adding if the management fails to respond to their demands at the expiration of the ultimatum, “the congress may not assure the management of continued industrial harmony thereafter.”
The 21-day ultimatum which began on the 12th of October is set to expire on the 2nd of November, 2018.
At the time of filing this report, the Management of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) could not be reached for comment.
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