By Desire Emmanuel
A relative of a patient that died while being treated at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, threw caution to the wind on Friday, May 15, attacking doctors and a nurse in the hospital.
The incident caused health services in the hospital to be partially disrupted as doctors and nurses suspended their work and declared a three-day strike over what they described as rising assaults on health workers within the hospital.
According to a source at the hospital, the incident occurred at the Accident and Emergency Unit, where two doctors and a nurse were assaulted after the death of a patient said to be critically ill.
According to the source, the patient was admitted in a critical condition and the family was informed about the severity of the illness from the outset.
Unfortunately, after about two days of admission, the patient died despite all medical interventions by doctors and nurses,” he said.
However, after his death, the patient’s brother became hysterical, attacked a nurse inside the resuscitation bay and later assaulted doctors and other hospital personnel who attempted to prevent the nurse from further attack.
“The assault on the nurse was repeated several times and when the doctors on duty attempted to prevent further assault, the man tore their clothes,” the source said.
The source stated that even when the police officers were called, the man was defiant, prompting the officers to arrest him. He is currently in detention at the Yemetu Police Station.
It was gathered that assaults on health workers in the hospital had become frequent in recent times, with reports that a doctor and a security officer were attacked in separate incidents in the past few weeks by relatives of patients.
