The strike by the medical doctors in the employment of the Kwara State government has paralysed medical services in the state hospitals.

To save the lives of patients on admission and in critical conditions, the management of state hospitals have referred them to other hospitals for proper treatment.

The hospitals management also discharged the stable patients on admission who only required nursing care to continue with their medication at home.

Nurses were seen providing skeletal services at the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital (KWASUTH), Ilorin at the weekend.

When our reporter visited KWASUTH yesterday, the facility was deserted as only a few patients were seen accessing medical care.

The Health Record Department which is the first point of call for any new and regular patients, and usually crowded by waiting patients was completely deserted.

Relatives of patients who were on admission appealed to relevant authorities to intervene and resolve the concerns of the striking doctors.

However, some nurses were seen rendering skeletal services to some patients.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP on the situation, the chief medical director of the KWASUTH, Dr Ahmed AbdulQuadir, said the hospital management had put in place measures to mitigate the effects of the doctors' strike on patients.

AbdulQuadir said the hospital management "is handling the situation with compassion while it continues to appeal to striking doctors and relevant authorities to reach a middle course".

"We have ensured that patients who were admitted and need nursing care are getting it because nurses are not on strike.

"Those who need acute care from the doctors are being referred to other hospitals to access medical care while those whose conditions are stable and need just nursing care are being discharged to continue with their drugs," he said.

LEADERSHIP reports that medical doctors in the service of the state government had on Thursday commenced a seven-day warning strike over unresolved welfare concerns.

The striking doctors also raised concern about deductions from their salaries for the Kwara Health Insurance Scheme (KHIS).

The chairman of Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Kwara State chapter, Dr Adeola Olasinde, said the decision to embark on a warning strike was reached at their congress held on October 14, 2026 following the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum issued to the state government.