Return to work, end strike, UUTH CMD urges doctors

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The Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Prof. Ememabasi Bassey, has urged medical doctors in the hospital to resume work in order to save patients’ lives.

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Bassey, who made the call at a press conference in Uyo on Wednesday, urged the Nigerian Medical Association to suspend its ongoing strike at the hospital.

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It would be recalled that medical doctors at the hospital embarked on strike following the alleged invasion of the facility by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

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It was reported that EFCC operatives were at the hospital in search of Prof. Effiong Ekpe, the deputy chairman of the Medical Advisory Council.

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The anti-graft agency’s visit reportedly concerned Ekpe’s alleged delay in authenticating a medical report linked to an ongoing investigation.

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Meanwhile, Bassey urged the medical doctors to return to work in order not to paralyse healthcare delivery at the hospital.

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“Innocent patients may lose their lives if medical services remain paralysed.

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“Let us consider the plight of innocent patients who depend on the hospital for survival,” he said.

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The CMD stated that UUTH was the only publicly accessible federal tertiary health institution in Akwa Ibom State, attending to between 600 and 800 patients daily.

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Bassey alleged that the EFCC did not officially communicate with the teaching hospital management or present an arrest warrant for Prof. Effiong Ekpe.

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“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.

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Reacting to the development, the EFCC denied invading the premises of the teaching hospital.

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Its 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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