Resident doctors at the Enugu State University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Parklane, have suspended their indefinite strike action to allow government time to implement agreements reached, a statement from their association has said.

The umbrella Association of Resident Doctors has therefore asked its members to report for work today by 8.00 a.m and resume normal services.

The statement said the decision to suspend the strike will not only “reduce the suffering of the good people of the State (but will also give ample time for more negotiations and implementation of proper placement of doctors in Enugu State on April 2019 CONMESS.”

Officials of the Association said they would meet in another two months to “reassess level of implementation of agreements reached with government and take necessary actions.”

The announcements comes as a relief to patients at the hospital who have been neglected since the strike began. It also boosts government’s effort to contain the ravaging Coronavirus pandemic in the country from proactive actions in the State.

The residents were however quick to point out that they were mindful of the need not to neglect the danger that Covid-19 posed to the people of the State during the period of strike.

“ARD ESUTH Parklane permitted some of her members, who were trained by the Nigerian Centre for Diesease Control (NCDC) to continue renderiing their services towards Covid-19 case management, at the isolation Centre in ESUT-TH, despite the indefinite withdrawal of services by all other members of the Association,” the statement said.

The doctors are pressing the State Government to fully implement the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) of 2009 which are being paid to health professionals in federal and some states since 2014 and which was further reviewed in 2019.

They also complained that there is a disparity in the entry points for medical doctors between ESUTH Parklane and other state and federal institutions that have implemented full CONMESS.

eMetro made efforts to get the State Government spokesperson by calls and messages to respond to the development but did not succeed.

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