I come to work every morning full of hope, with a strong desire to save lives. I am constantly quizzed by friends on why I have chosen to remain in this country, they all wonder why I am so full of hope, my answer has however remained the same; I sincerely want to save Nigerian lives.
That being said, my hope is beginning to fade away, the reality of the callousness of those who have been tasked with the responsibility of managing LUTH, and ensuring my welfare is dawning on me each day.
The same hospital where I have to beg to obtain sterile apparel to enter into theatre, where I have been purchasing my own PPE since the onset of the pandemic, the same hospital where paper to document has become rare gold; always unavailable and necessitating the purchase of my personal pack of A4 paper.
The same hospital where I have to make copies of investigation forms to be used by patients because the forms are always in short supply, the same hospital where sample bottles which should be provided in surplus by the management have to be purchased by patients, the same hospital that hasn’t had blood culture bottles for months but frowns at requesting from private labs that do, the same LUTH that has rat-infested wards and bed bug-infested call rooms! Of course, I could go on about the appalling conditions Doctors in LUTH have been subjected to, but I would stop here.
Despite the terrible working conditions, I come to work hopeful every morning and ready to save lives, but of course, every cup has its limit. Better working conditions were recently demanded from the management of LUTH, but as always, they pointed in the direction of the federal government. So alas, under the umbrella of our parent body we took the matter to the federal government, asking for answers and actions. Promises were made, documents signed, we foolishly believed, and put on our garment of hope again before resuming work after one week of absence. Of course, our hopes were shattered upon realizing only empty promises were made and we were back to business as usual.
LUTH management however showed us the true meaning of the word; ‘ruthlessness’.The same management who had initially stated they were powerless to bring about the much-needed change we craved for, decided to discipline us for exercising our fundamental right by withholding 80%- 90% of our salaries.
This is no joke or exaggeration!! Colleagues were paid as low as 3,432 naira as July salary as a form of discipline. We have families to feed, school fees to pay, house rent to pay and in fact, we have all the basic responsibilities other Nigerians are faced with.
Never have we been appreciated for working under these inhumane and deplorable conditions, yet the management of LUTH in its infinite foolishness has decided to add additional hurt into our lives for demanding better welfare. Yet, we ask why so many doctors are transitioning into societies where hard work is valued, systems work the way they should and there is almost nothing to be wary about. Yes, I was full of hope, but not anymore.
- Abimbola