By Chioma Obinna LAGOS — Resident doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, have given the Lagos State Government a seven-day ultimatum to implement the Specialist Allowance for Grade Level 14 doctors and pay outstanding salary and promotion arrears owed affected members.
The doctors, under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors, LASUTH, LASUTH-ARD, warned that failure to address the issues within the stipulated period could lead to further industrial action and create disharmony in the state’s health sector. The association made the demand on Thursday while addressing journalists in Lagos.
It listed its three immediate demands as the implementation and payment of the Specialist Allowance to all Grade Level 14 resident doctors at LASUTH, payment of arrears of the allowance, and immediate payment of salary shortfalls and promotion arrears owed affected members.
President of LASUTH-ARD, Dr Gabriel Akerele, accused some state government officials of misleading the association over the inclusion of the Specialist Allowance for Senior Registrar 1, SR1, in the Professional Allowance Table approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. According to him, the association was repeatedly assured that the allowance had been incorporated into the table forwarded to the governor for approval, only to discover that the August salaries of affected doctors did not include it.
Akerele said the association had met with the governor on July 17, during which Sanwo-Olu reviewed and approved the file containing the Professional Allowance Table. “We were told that the Specialist Allowance for SR1 had been incorporated into the Professional Allowance Table and that it had been sent to Mr Governor for approval. We gave them the benefit of the doubt. “We even met with Mr Governor on July 17.
He brought out the file, went through it and approved it immediately. We were happy because we believed the Specialist
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