Alleged assault: OAUTH doctors begin two-day warning strike

Following the alleged assault of one of their colleagues, the Association of Resident Doctors at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Tuesday, embarked on a two-day warning strike.

According to a press release signed by the association’s president, Dr. Nana Fayowole; General Secretary, Dr. Anuforo Anthony; and the Public Relations Officer, Dr. Adelaja Olasubomi, the resident doctors accused a nurse of an alleged assault on a colleague.

The resident doctors said the warning strike would commence from 8 am Tuesday, June 21, 2022, to 7:59 am on Thursday, June 23, 2022.

According to them, a female doctor, identified as Dr. Oluwatosin Bello was forcefully held hostage, confined, and verbally assaulted while discharging her duty, by a senior nurse in the Female Adult Orthopaedic Ward of the hospital on June 16.

“The female house officer had gone to the said ward with her team which comprised different cadres of doctors, to carry out a procedure on the only patient in the ward at that time.

“The team on arrival at 4:30 pm informed the nurse on duty.

“After obtaining the patient’s consent, they requested a trolley from the nurse who pointed the trolley to them and told them to get it.

“In order not to waste time because the team already got a call from children emergency to see a patient, the house officer willingly brought the trolley.

“After the procedure, the team discarded all sharps used. They wrapped the empty kit with the drape used and kept it on the lowest shelf of the trolley and wiped the topmost part of the trolley clean and moved the trolley away from the patient’s bedside.

“They were leaving the ward when the house officer was accosted that she should go and discard the waste. The house officer was the last to leave so the nurse went to block her way asking her to go and discard the waste and when she didn’t answer, the matron locked the gate with the padlock.

“As if that was not enough, she started shouting and rained a lot of insults on her to the extent that nurses from other wards came to plead with her to stop and open the gate but she declined.

“Despite several pleas, the nurse vowed never to let the doctor out no matter who comes from Abuja. We have the video evidence of this incident. It took the effort of many people to persuade the nurse to release the doctor.”

The executives of the association said an emergency general meeting was called on June 17 and decided to embark on a total 48-hour warning strike.

They also asked “The hospital management to institute a fact-finding committee to look into the incident at FAOW and appropriate disciplinary measures be meted against whoever is found culpable, failure of which the house will re-examine the situation at the July 2022 OGM.

“The hospital management should come up with a document detailing the job description of all clinical staff within the next four weeks, failure of which the house will re-examine the situation at the July 2022 OGM. We believe this is in line with best global practice.”

Dr. Fayowole told The PUNCH that “We have given them (the management) ample time to do the needful. We stated our demands in our communique and they have constituted a fact-finding committee to look at what happened and make recommendations.

“They have between now and four weeks to tick all the boxes of our request before the next congress.”

When our correspondent called the number on the hospital’s website, an official identified as Ademola said he could not speak on the matter.

“The person that can answer your question very well is not around, you can call back by 10 am; he is the Secretary to the Chief Medical Director,” he said.