The Association of Resident Physicians of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTHC) Ile-Ife on Tuesday embarked on a two-day warning strike over an alleged assault involving a female doctor.
The union announced the strike in a circular obtained by PREMIUM TIMES and co-signed by the association’s president, Nana Fayowole; Secretary General, Anuforo Anthony; and the Public Relations Officer, Adelaja Olasubomi.
“Members must embark on a full 48-hour warning strike beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 21, 2022, through 7:59 a.m. Thursday, June 23, 2022,” the union stated.
The union has also threatened to re-examine the situation if the hospital management does not comply with its demand.
alleged assault
According to the circular, on June 16, a female doctor identified as Oluwatosin Bello “was forcibly held hostage, confined, and verbally assaulted while on duty, by a senior nurse at the Adult Women’s Orthopedic Ward (FAOW).
“The house officer had gone to said room with her team, which was made up of different groups of doctors, to perform a procedure on the only patient in the room at that time.
“The team arriving at 4:30 pm informed the nurse on duty.
“After obtaining the patient’s consent, they requested a cart from the nurse, who pointed to the cart and told them to get it.
“In order not to waste time because the team already received a child emergency call to see a patient, the house officer willingly brought the car.
“After the procedure, the team discarded all sharps used. They wrapped the empty kit in the used cloth and kept it on the lowest shelf of the cart and cleaned the top of the cart and moved it away from the patient’s bed.
“They were leaving the room when the house officer was approached to go and dispose of the waste. The house officer was the last to leave, so the nurse went to block her way, asking her to go and throw away the waste, and when she didn’t respond, the matron padlocked the door.
“As if that weren’t enough, she started screaming and many insults rained down on her to the point that nurses from other wards came to beg her to stop and open the gate, but she refused.
“Despite several pleas, the nurse swore never to let the doctor out no matter who comes from Abuja. We have video evidence of this incident. It took the effort of many people to persuade the nurse to release the doctor.”
The union further described the incident as “an unfortunate and unacceptable development”, adding that an emergency general meeting was called on June 17 and it was decided to embark on a 48-hour warning strike.
Lawsuits
The union blamed the workplace assault on doctors inside the hospital on the lack of a proper job description for clinical staff. However, he gave hospital management four weeks to investigate the incident and file a document to that effect.
“Hospital management must submit a document detailing the job description of all clinical staff within the next four weeks, otherwise the house will re-examine the situation at the July 2022 OGM. We believe this is in line with global best practices.
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“The hospital management will institute an investigation committee to investigate the incident at FAOW and appropriate disciplinary measures will be applied against whoever is found guilty, in the event that the house re-examines the situation at the OGM in July 2022,” they requested. . .
Confirming his demands to The Punch, the association’s president said: “We have given them (management) enough time to do what is necessary. We laid out our demands in our statement and they have set up an investigation committee to see what happened and make recommendations.
“You have between now and four weeks to check all the boxes on our application before the next congress.”
Impact of the strike
Speaking about the strike, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and consultant, Ayodele Komolafe, told PREMIUM TIMES that the ongoing medical resident strike will affect the operations of other Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) staff.
“Resident doctors make up the bulk of the doctors working at the hospital, so even if the consultants are not on strike, it will somehow affect our operation as medical consultants because we work together as a team,” he said.
“In a situation where three people are working to see a patient in the clinic and you’re the only one there as a consultant, it’s going to affect you in some way unless there are resident doctors available that you can work with.”
He also urged the hospital management to investigate the incident and the demands of the resident doctors.