House officers at Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LUTH) raised the alarm yesterday about bad working conditions and the death of a house officer, Dr. Umoh Michael, who purportedly worked for 72 hours.
Dr. Michael is said to have died on September 17 while on a 72-hour call in the Neurosurgery Unit.
He was claimed to have been on call for the duration before returning home for church service on Sunday morning, and slumped in his worship center (United Evangelical Church) at 11:00 a.m.
The late doctor’s roommate attested to the fact that the deceased had hardly slept in their apartment for the past one week, according to a letter written to the Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof. Wasiu Lanre Adeyemo by medical doctors under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), LUTH chapter.
They said that Dr. Michael was usually on call and had come home around 3:00 a.m. following surgeries and other activities in the Neurosurgery unit.
“We have long standing challenges since we resumed housemanship here, and one of the most striking challenges is the bullying we receive from our senior colleagues,” they added. “We have stressful call hours with no breaks in between, no call food, and no good accommodation.”
The doctors demanded that House Officers who were on call the day before be given a half-day the next day or permitted to return to work by midday the next day, and that they not be forced to work for 48 hours straight.
They also urged that mandatory health examinations at the start of House work be free or heavily subsidized for House Officers. They also urged that their senior colleagues, senior registers, and registrars make the work atmosphere more pleasant for them, and that House officials not do the work of potters, nurses, or patient families.
Omolola Fakeye, LUTH’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), responded, saying, “It is not true that anyone worked for 72 hours.” I have not been informed of his death. We were at a program on Monday, but I’ll find out; I can’t say anything right now. “I’ll look over the medical report to see what happened because anyone can say anything, but the medical report will show us what happened,” he stated.