The Association of Resident Doctors, (ARD) at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan has commenced a three-day strike over alleged assault on one of their members by relatives of a patient in the hospital.
The president and vice-precident of ARD-UCH Ibadan, John Oladapo and Sunday Adegbite, respectively, issued a statement stating that the doctors are requesting a public apology in two nationally circulated newspapers. He claims: “On Sunday, a patient’s relative intentionally, premeditatedly, and with great fury attacked one of our members.
The doctor was seeing a known patient with sickle cell who was experiencing a painful crisis at the emergency department when the two men accosted him in the consulting room and started beating him up. This attack also included beating up the patient’s mother who attempted to step in. In the doctor’s attempt to escape, the men chased him down and beat him up. “Our member suffered injuries and damage to his mental health and self-esteem before the hospital security officers intervened and saved him.”
Members of the association also insisted on improvements being made to the hospital’s security architecture in order to prevent similar incidents in the future.