A man, who punched and kicked a medical doctor at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Kwara state on Wednesday, has been detained by the security guards providing security at the health facility.
The incident was reportedly recorded at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Wing of the hospital.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned Alhaji Saliu, a butcher, had breathed his last at the hospital on Wednesday and his family members had alleged medical negligence submitting that he would have remained on the planet earth but however made to leave for the great beyond due to what they described as nonchalant attitude of medical workers at the hospital.
It was gathered that trouble started shortly after the family members were informed of Saliu’s passing , he was said to have suffered from blood cancer.
Saliu , who had reportedly returned from a business trip, was rushed to the teaching hospital on Tuesday.
‘We rushed Alhaji Saliu to the emergency ward at UITH at about 5:00am on Tuesday and despite pleading that one of the doctors should attend to him, nobody did.
We were however surprised to see doctors coming to attend to us several hours later after a medical personnel who saw our plight had confirmed that he had actually passed away.
This irked the relatives and they reacted by descending on one of the doctors that was there. Since then, they have vowed not to release the corpse unless we produce some other people that attacked the doctor’ , Abdul, who is a relative of the deceased, said.
Head, Corporate Affairs Unit , UITH, Mrs. Elizabeth Ajiboye, who has confirmed the development, noted that the decision taken with regard to Salihu’s corpse was at the instance of doctors at the hospital under the umbrella of Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (ARD) , who had demanded that the corpse should be withheld until those who attacked the doctor are arrested and prosecuted.
Mrs. Ajiboye, who urged members of the public to stop attacking health workers, also denied medical negligence allegations.
‘The patient in question was one of such cases presented to the hospital late and with severe complications. Nevertheless, the health workers on duty, especially doctors swung into action but while battling with his life, he convulsed. He was stabilized from that stage, prompting the doctors to take over another case requiring an emergency attention.
Three of the patient’s relatives pounced on one of the doctors, pinned him to the wall, and punched him several times before he managed to escape from them.
This led to the arrest of one of patient’s relatives by the security guards at the hospital. As we speak, this person is still under the watch of the security personnel while we are searching for the remaining two people.
The doctors under the umbrella of Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (ARD) are protesting the assault, urging the Management of the hospital not to release the corpse without arresting and prosecuting the culprits.
It has now become imperative for the hospital to caution patients and their relations against any form of attack on its health care providers.
We wish to remind members of the public about the role of health workers in health Management system and the limitations of these health care providers when it comes to saving lives especially when the cases before them are presented late.
Just as these workers had sworn to protect the lives of their patients, their own lives should not be endangered.
Therefore, the UITH through the law enforcement agents has resolved to henceforth arrest and prosecute anyone irrespective of their status, threatening the lives of any of our workers in the course of their duties. Legal action will also henceforth be taken against such unruly relatives of our patients.
We are at the same time, pledging our unalloyed commitment to continuing to save lives and make health care accessible to our law- abiding clients’ she submitted- Team@orientactualmags.com
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