The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, management warned employees, including doctors, on Wednesday against avoiding night duties. The hospital’s management emphasized that anyone who fails to report to their duty post does so at their own risk.
This warning comes after hospital workers, under the Joint Action Committee (JAC), announced on Tuesday that they would be suspending night duties due to a power outage caused by an alleged N495m unpaid electricity bill owed to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.
The JAC Chairman, Oladayo Olabampe, stated that the workers had decided to reduce their activities until electricity was restored, working only between 8 am and 4 pm. The workers also threatened to embark on a seven-day strike if the hospital was not reconnected before Tuesday, April 9.
However, there was a disagreement between the JAC Chairman and the hospital’s Public Relations Officer, ‘Funmi Adetuyibi, over the planned reduction of operations. While the JAC Chairman insisted that the new work hours would be implemented, the UCH spokesperson maintained that it would not be feasible.
The JAC Chairman said, “We have started since yesterday (Tuesday) and we are not going back. The workers took this decision due to a power outage in the hospital. So, with this development, no one would be available to attend to patients in the evening at UCH.”
