Alleged assault: Resident doctors begin strike in Ebonyi

Resident doctors in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, (AE-FUTHA), Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, have withdrawn clinical services following an alleged assault on one of their members by a patient’s relative on March 17.

President of the Association in the hospital, Dr Osuagwu Chidubem, said that was the third time their colleagues were allegedly attacked and assaulted by patients’ relatives in the hospital in two months.

Osuagwu, said that some of the patients were brought to the hospital very late, which resulted to death in some cases.

He said that the association’s diplomatic measures of reaching out to AE-FUTHA management, Police and other law enforcement agencies on how to stop the ugly trend were futile, hence their withdrawal of services.

He thanked the hospital management over the arrest and planned prosecution of the most recent accused person who did not only assault them, but also allegedly threatened to burn down the hospital and stab to death any doctor found within the premises.

“Even, we are facing serious challenge in caring for Ebonyians and other patients from outside the State; sometimes, the patients are presented very late to us when little or nothing can be done to save them.

“It is unfortunate that at this time when Corona virus has become a global challenge, while health workers are doing their best to ensure the protection of the lives of the citizens, we are forced to withdraw our services, because we are under serious threats by the people whom we have laid down our lives for,” he said.

“The public should know that we are trained to save lives and as humans, we can only do our best in caring for patients.

“We are not God and for that when a patient is brought in a moribund state and our effort happens to fail, the patients’ relatives should not think that the way to show their love to the lost one is to attack the doctors,” the ARD President stated.