By Rita Elenwo
The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has debunked the story making the rounds that one of its employees, a medical doctor identified as Michael Umoh, died after 72 hours non-stop shift.
In a statement released on Thursday, the hospital confirmed that the doctor who only worked for four days in September slumped and died on 17 September while in church with his parents.
There are speculations that the doctor, who had a month to complete his horsemanship at the hospital, died after working a 72 hours non-stop shift at the hospital.
For the management “The record from the Neurosurgery unit shows that the last time he was on call was 13 and 14 September 2023. He was not on call on the 15, 16 and 17, contrary to the insinuations on social media. He was at home with his parents on the 16 and 17 September. It added that before this time, he was on call on the 7 and 8 September, an indication that Mr Umoh was on call for a total number of 4 days in September.
However, the management noted that the parents gave the details of what they thought must have contributed to his death but pleaded that the wish of the family is respected and that the narrative is not for public consumption.
Meanwhile, resident doctors also in a statement signed by the President of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in LUTH, Kemi Abidoye, said the deceased was posted to the neurosurgery unit, along with two other colleagues and their work schedule includes a 48-hour call interspersed with four days that they are not scheduled to be on call.
The association noted that “the exact details of the emergency response after this event are still unclear, but he was taken to Reddington hospital where his unfortunate demise was confirmed.
“Reports of a background cardiovascular disease that can predispose to sudden cardiac death have not been confirmed either from his family or from his pre-employment medical screening records.”
According to a source in LUTH, the report that Mr Umoh died after the 72-hour shift is “exaggerated”, saying he was still alive hours after his shift.
“The doctor was on call for 48 hours and had been off work for more than 24 hours before the incident happened in church on Sunday where he attended service,” the source said.
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