The Association of Resident Doctors, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Chapter (ARD-UITH), on Thursday 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, Ezekiel Oladepo, at a news conference in Ilorin on Thursday.

Mr Oladepo said that a female senior registrar in the pediatrics department was assaulted on Wednesday after treating a two-year-old baby, who later died.

He stated, “Yesterday, around 1:00 p.m., a senior registrar was assaulted after attending to a patient who eventually died because of the patient’s premorbid condition.

“The patient came in very bad on referral, which was supposed to have been presented a long time before.”

Mr Oladepo added that the mother of the deceased child notified the father, who was absent from the hospital at the time.

According to him, the father arrived at the hospital in a hurry and charged at the doctor who was, by then, attending to another patient.

“The doctor was thrown against a hard wooden table, sustaining an injury on her back.

“After pushing her, the same person landed on the doctor to beat her. However, a senior consultant who was present during the incident was able to hold the assailant.

“The senior consultant was also verbally insulted in the process of saving the doctor from further assault,” he said.

The ARD-UITH president said that the hospital’s management contacted the police, who later arrested the suspected culprit.

He described the warning strike as part of the association’s protocol to address the situation and express grievances over such dastardly actions against their members.

He recalled that similar attacks on their members had occurred before, with cases still in courts.

Mr Oladepo said that while the doctors empathise with family members over the loss of their loved ones, there are ways to mourn without taking out their frustrations and anger on healthcare workers.

“You cannot always put the blame on doctors. We are doing our work according to what we are supposed to do, and we have to be safe in our workplaces.

“An assault on any member is an assault on all. A single act by one person is causing a ripple effect on others,” he warned.

The ARD-UITH president commended UITH management for its support as they pledged to mitigate future occurrences.

He acknowledged the management’s pledge to install solar cameras across the institution, place posters against the assault of healthcare workers, and provide a viable security network at each service point.

Mr Oladepo added that the management also pledged to care for the physically and mentally traumatised doctor.

Meanwhile, UITH Head of the Corporate Affairs Department, Abiodun Fagbemi, confirmed the incident.

“We value our doctors, ditto other health workers, as well as the patients. However, we have zero tolerance for assault on any health worker,” he said.

According to Mr Fagbemi, UITH management has established various channels to communicate any grievance if the need arises.

He added that UITH would work to resolve the issue. 

(NAN)