Paediatricians and trainee paediatricians perspectives on industrial action by medical doctors in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Industrial actions have become a common means by which medical doctors attempt to communicate their grievances to the  government. Paediatricians are frequently caught between a desire to support the course of their professional association and caring for their patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the opinion of paediatricians and trainee paediatricians regarding strike actions, the likely cause(s) and their reasons for and against industrial actions as a means for communicating grievances to the government.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires randomly distributed to consenting participants at the 48thAnnual Scientific Conference of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20.
Results: A total of 102 respondents from the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria returned appropriately filled forms. Fifty-seven (55.9%) were females, 91 (81.2%) were married, 72 (70.6%) were Christians and 49 (48%) were Consultant paediatricians. Poor remuneration (36%), poor working conditions(24.3%) and failure of the government to keep promises to doctors (19.9%) were the top three reasons given for the incessant industrial actions in the recent past. Forty-nine percent of respondents did not support industrial actions, 65% responded that strikes affect the quality of training and practice and (84.3%) volunteer their services during a strike.
Conclusions: Industrial actions are not the paediatricians’ preferred means of communicating grievances. Other methods should, therefore, be explored to limit the deleterious effects of industrial actions.

Keywords: Paediatrician, Nigeria, industrial action, strike, medical doctors, trainee