The Association of Resident Doctors, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Chapter (ARD-UITH), on Thursday July 9 commenced a five-day warning strike in response to an assault on one of its members. The strike was announced by the President of ARD-UITH, Dr Ezekiel Oladepo, at a news conference in Ilorin on Thursday.
Oladepo said that a female senior registrar of the Department of Paediatrics was assaulted on Wednesday after attending to a two-year-old baby, who later died.
He explained that the mother of the deceased child notified the father, who hurriedly arrived at the hospital and charged at the doctor who was, by then, attending to another patient. He said the doctor was thrown against a hard wooden table, sustaining an injury on her back, and was attacked again before another senior consultant who was present was able to hold back the assailant.
Oladepo said that the hospital’s management contacted the police, who later arrested the assailant. He described the warning strike as part of the association’s protocol to address the situation and express grievance over such dastardly actions against their members.
Oladepo added that while the doctors empathise with family members over the loss of their loved ones, there are ways to mourn without taking out frustrations and anger on healthcare workers.
Meanwhile, UITH Head of Corporate Affairs Department, Mr Abiodun Fagbemi, while confirming the incident, stated that UITH management has put in place various channels to communicate any grievance if the need arises. He added that UITH will work assiduously to resolve the issue.
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