UUTH CMD Urges Striking Doctors to Resume Work, Warns of Risks to Patients’ Lives
The Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Prof. Ememabasi Bassey, has appealed to medical doctors at the facility to immediately suspend their ongoing strike and resume duty in order to save lives.
Prof. Bassey made the call on Wednesday during a press conference held in Uyo.
The strike by doctors at the teaching hospital was triggered by the alleged invasion of the facility by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in search of Prof. Effiong Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Council.
According to reports, the EFCC team was at the hospital over allegations that Prof. Ekpe delayed the authentication of a medical report connected to an ongoing investigation.
Bassey urged the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to call off the industrial action, stressing that continued paralysis of services at the hospital could lead to the loss of innocent lives.
“Innocent patients may lose their lives if medical services remain paralysed. Let us consider the plight of innocent patients who depend on the hospital for survival,” the CMD said.
He noted that UUTH is the only publicly accessible federal tertiary health institution in Akwa Ibom State, attending to between 600 and 800 patients daily.
Prof. Bassey further alleged that the EFCC did not formally notify the hospital management or present an arrest warrant before attempting to arrest Prof. Ekpe.
“The EFCC did not formally notify the hospital management or present an arrest warrant before attempting to drag a professor out of his office,” he alleged.
Reacting to the allegations, the EFCC denied invading the hospital premises.
The anti-graft agency’s Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Dele Oyewale, said in a statement that EFCC operatives were at the teaching hospital on an official assignment.
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