Doctors in Ekiti State on Tuesday joined the nationwide strike declared by the Nigerian Medical Association.
Announcing this to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the NMA Chairman, Ekiti chapter, Dr. Obitade Obimakinde, further stressed the association's opposition to the idea of appointing nurses and pharmacists as consultants and Chief Medical Directors in public health institutions in the country.
Obimakinde said such idea would cause internal confusion in the sector and colossal suffering to patients.
According to him, pharmacists and nurses must be allowed to play supportive roles and take directives from doctors, rather than eroding the well entrenched clinical structures in the hospitals.
He argued that breaking demarcations among medical experts in the hospitals, would cripple the health sector and lead to its total collapse while battling with poor health indices, like high child and maternal mortality rates.
Obimakinde said, "We are not saying there shouldn't be career progression for nurses, pharmacists and other medical and paramedical officers, but they should be made to play supportive roles to doctors or else, this may cause chaos and confusion in the system.
"The Acts that establish hospitals only recognised three directorate: Administration, Clinical Service and Training as well as Finance. But trying to erode the Clinical directorate by believing that any staff of a hospital whose colleagues in the core civil service have reached the directorate level can be appointed as consultants and CMD, will create confusion."
Obimakinde said government must be aware of the fact that hospitals that practise such in the foreign countries were those that placed premium on academic.
"It is Nigerians that will suffer under this arrangement and such must be reversed," he added.
The body also canvassed for the payment of 50 per cent specialist allowance to their members on Consolidated Medical Salary Structure three to serve as incentive.
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