Patients Stranded As LASUTH-ARD Indefinite Strike Enters Day 6

Many patients who turned up for medical services at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) were turned back yesterday as the strike embarked upon by medical doctors under the auspices of the Association of Resident Doctors, LASUTH-ARD, entered its sixth day.

The industration disrupted healthcare services in the state, leaving many patients stranded, as they were turned away from clinics with rescheduled appointments.

LEADERSHIP checks showed that seats were empty at the Family Medicine Unit. This is the place where retirees had complained of waiting long hours just to see a doctor. Only a handful of patients with appointments sat down with the hope that someone would attend to them, while others were told to return on new dates.

A woman, Mrs Folashade Kilani, said she took an e-hailing taxi from Ikorodu for N19,000 to make it on time, only to get to the hospital and discover that the doctors were on strike.

She said, “My kids didn’t go to school today. If I had to prepare for school, I wouldn’t be able to come to the hospital on time, and I didn’t want that to happen. I also spent N19,000 to take a taxi, yet there is no doctor to attend to me. They only gave me a new date, which is next month, and I am ill.”

Another patient said she had no idea the doctors were on strike until she came and saw how empty the hospital was.

“I have been given another appointment day, with the hope that the doctors would have called off their strike,” she said.

At the Medical Emergency Unit, a security officer said they were not admitting patients. He said, Inside the ward is empty. Doctors are on strike. Nurses on duty were attending to elderly patients already admitted.

“What I will do now is to go and sleep. Nothing to do here. Everything looks tiring without the patients.”

One nurse complained that the situation was becoming unbearable, saying, “Those who came and were told the doctors are on strike make us look like bad people. They believe we don’t want to admit them. But the problem is that no doctor is available to attend to them. If doctors were available, nobody would tell them otherwise,” she said.

At the Eye Clinic, a security officer advised patients to listen to the news for updates on when the strike would be called off, saying, “The doctors were angry, and that is why they called an indefinite strike. All the patients here have been given new appointment dates,” he said.

A 300 Level nursing student who came to see a doctor and was told none was available said, “I am a student nurse. I will just go and meet my supervisor to know if going outside the hospital is better.”

According to LASUTH‑ARD, the decision to embark on the strike was reached after an emergency congress held on 9 September 2026. The congress was convened to review members’ welfare concerns and assess the progress made by the Lagos State Government in addressing the issues raised.

During the meeting, the congress expressed great concern about the persistent delay and the government’s failure to fulfil its promise to pay specialist allowances to Grade Level 14 resident doctors (Senior Registrars I) at LASUTH. This was despite an earlier agreement to follow the federal government’s implementation of the allowance at federal institutions.

Furthermore, the Congress expressed dismay at the continued delay in paying salary shortfalls and arrears of advancement owed to members since last year. Although the Lagos State government had acknowledged the non‑payment, attributing it to procedural and systemic issues, the doctors lamented that no concrete action had been taken to resolve the matter.

In addition, the Congress raised deep concerns over irregularities and discrepancies in the payment of the revised provisional allowance to members. They also expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in implementing Professional Allowances (PAT), which were supposed to take effect from 1 July 2024.

After extensive deliberations, the congress resolved that there must be immediate implementation of the specialist allowance to resident doctors on Grade Level 14 without further delay

It also demanded prompt payment of salary shortfalls and arrears of advances owed to members, settlement of 25 months’ arrears of the revised professional allowance table recently implemented, and the release of a transparent salary breakdown containing all components currently used by the Lagos State Government in paying doctors.

Based on this, the congress declared a total and indefinite strike beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, 11 September, citing the government’s failure to meet their welfare needs and demands. The doctors emphasised that the strike will continue until all their demands are fully addressed.

On 27 August, LASUTH-ARD gave the government seven days to implement the Specialist Allowance for Grade Level 14 doctors and to pay outstanding salary and promotion arrears owed to affected members, and warned that failure to meet their demands within the given time could trigger further action and possibly lead to industrial disharmony at the hospital.

Before this indefinite strike, the group was threatened with a three-day total warning strike from Monday night, 15 June, to Friday, 19 June, over this unpaid allowance and the slow implementation of welfare measures, which it agreed with the Lagos State government.