My Board

1. The doctor (Dr. John, a House officer) and the Nurse in a recently trending viral video are both staff of Central Hospital, Auchi. The incident as seen in the CCTV clip happened while I  was on my annual leave.

2. The nurse in question, her friends and colleagues made a position that she was assaulted by Dr. John and were demanding for the head of the doctor and displaying pictures of injuries sustained by the nurse following the alleged assault by the doctor. This allegation was refuted vehemently by Dr. John.

3. A disciplinary Committee was constituted and though I was on leave and  also privileged to be serving as the current NMA chairman, I was briefed throughout the proceedings as a member of my constituency was being accused of assault and battery by another member. As the MD of Central Hospital, Auchi, I requested that all evidences should be taken into consideration and therefore granted express access to my office to obtain the cctv footage which corroborated the events as enumerated by Dr. John.
With my permission this footage was sent out to correct the first erroneous impression that doctors in the facility were oppresing a JOHESU member. The disciplinary panel concluded her findings and in line with civil service protocols, I forwarded my findings and recommendations to the SHMA.

4. In the interim the nurse in the video was moved to another unit while no punitive measure was taken against Dr. John. There is nowhere in the panel report that referred him or any other doctor to MDCN.

5. As at today the Nurses and their union have reached out to Dr. John to appeal to him for forgiveness and settled things amicably. Dr. John has also called to confirm that they have settled. However, as the  head of the hospital, I had hitherto made it known that the issue was already before the SHMA and thus should be allowed to run its course.

 "Who are those behind this misinformation currently trending on the social media space? What do they hope to achieve?"

The claim that the House Officer was denied call food is preposterous as any discerning doctor in the state can easily verify the status of call food for HOs in our Central Hospitals. Yes as the MD, I have personally looked out for the welfare of my younger colleagues and as referenced earlier, I was on my annual leave at the time of this incident and no doctor benefited from call foods during the said period as I was not on ground to ensure that this gesture continues.

To those who did not have the true picture of events, there exists, internal mechanisms to address these type of issues in SHMA and I believe in optimally using these mechanisms without unduly heating up the polity.

It is hoped that the SHMA would quickly come out with their recommendations to forestall such ugly incidents within the hospital.

Dr. Obaro 07051743505. (Medical Officer, CHA )
Dr. Victor Akpeji +2348065331447              (Snr. Medical Officer, CHA)

The aforementioned can be reached by any well meaning member to get clarifications on the incident.

However, as Chairman of NMA Edo State while awaiting the outcome of the SHMA panel, an NMA enquiry panel consisting of zonal/affiliate heads is urgently being set up to visit the facility, look into the events surrounding this unfortunate incident and bring up a report ASAP.   
     
Dr. Imoisili Udoka.                       
NMA Chairman,                         
Edo State branch/South-South Caucus

Thanks and God bless us all
Long live Edo NMA!