The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), has given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to address its requests or confront potential labour discord.
This announcement was conveyed through a communique released on Tuesday, following an extraordinary National Executive Council meeting conducted virtually by MDCAN.
The communique was signed by its President, Dr. Victor Makanjuola, and Secretary-General, Dr. Yemi Raji.
The NEC said it was dismayed by the non-implementation of the jointly agreed upward review of CONMESS and the introduction of Accoutrement allowance with the Nigerian Medical Association, as the released circular only captured the percentage increase on the basic salary, as opposed to applying it to both the basic salaries and all allowances except hazard allowance.
The communique read, “This error has resulted in the complete exclusion of the clinical lecturers (Honorary Consultants) from benefiting from the upward review. The commencement date for the new circular was agreed to be January 1, 2023, rather than June 1, 2023.
“We believe this error will be corrected without delay. The recent upward review of CONMESS did not take into consideration the consequences of the fuel subsidy removal and exponential inflation that have pervaded our socio-economic space in the past three months.
The council noted a lack of consistent implementation of CONMESS across all medical and dental doctors, irrespective of their governmental affiliations.
Expressing concern, the council criticised the government for underestimating the significant effects of brain drain in the healthcare sector.
This sentiment was highlighted by the National Council on Establishment’s refusal to endorse the Federal Ministry of Health’s proposal to raise the retirement age for Medical and Dental Consultants and other healthcare staff.
The council also pointed out the government’s failure to resolve ongoing disputes with the National Association of Resident Doctors, which has adversely affected healthcare accessibility for Nigerians and led to the abduction of doctors in the nation.
In response, the consultants are demanding an immediate revision of the recently updated CONMESS circular. They call for the issuance of a new circular that accurately represents the agreed-upon percentage adjustments for both Basic Salary and additional allowances, excluding hazard allowance.
The review, they assert, will ensure that clinical lecturers also benefit from these upward revisions.
Other demands include, “A call for the correction of the error of commencement of the implementation of the upward review of CONMESS from June 1, 2023, to January 1, 2023.
“The upward review of the CONMESS should take into consideration the impacts of the fuel subsidy removal and the high inflationary trend that is currently being experienced. A demand for the immediate implementation and circularisation of the agreed modalities for correcting the shortfalls in remunerations of Clinical Lecturers (Honorary Consultants). An appeal for the universal applicability of CONMESS to all medical and dental doctors, particularly those in public universities.
“The attention of the government is once again called to the impact of brain drain in the health sector, which is contributing to burnout among our members and an inadequate healthcare workforce to cater to the health of Nigerians. We, therefore, demand the immediate implementation of the upward review of age retirement to 70 years for Consultants and 65 years for other Health workers, as an immediate measure to bridge the ongoing massive brain drain.
“We appeal to the government to as a matter of urgency, resolve all the contending issues with NARD, to ensure that the government hospitals return to normal operation for optimal healthcare delivery immediately. We call on the government at all levels, as well as the security agencies to do all within their powers, to ensure the safety of our members and other Nigerians while effecting the immediate and safe release of those currently held captive by kidnappers.
“The NEC hopes that all these issues will be satisfactorily resolved within the next 21 days, failing which it can no longer guarantee the present relative industrial harmony within the government hospitals and our medical schools”, it said.
