‘We Perform Surgeries With Torchlights & Lamps’ – Resident Doctors Lament

One of the major problems in Nigeria is the epileptic power supply, and it seems to be terribly affecting the medical sector and putting precious lives at risk.

With doctors currently on strike nationwide, Dr. Oyinlola Oluwagbemiga, immediate past president of the Association of Resident Doctors, UniIllorin branch and his successor, Dr. Ade Falonpe, have lamented over the epileptic power supply at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. They revealed during a media briefing in Ilorin on Wednesday that doctors at the hospital use lamps, phone lights and lamps to perform surgeries and treat patients.

According to Punch, Oyinlola said,

“There are certain procedures we embark upon, you have to complete them using your torchlight or phone lights. Imagine that you are in an emergency where you have to resuscitate a patient and you resort to that. It is that bad. It even stretches to sanitation.

We have reached the point where you are having a major procedure and all you can hear is ‘please we can only supply light for the next 2hours, make sure you complete your operation.’ And there are operations that last for four or more hours. So if you have such, you have to reschedule because you have been told ab-initio that you are on your own should you embark on it.”

Mr Ganiyu Yusuf, Director of Administration, UITH, however, said the management of the hospital spends N16m on diesel and N3m on electricity bill monthly and will not join issues with the resident doctors.

“As management, we are not going to join issues with the resident doctors. But we are going to state the facts. It is not news that electricity generation in the country is bad. The problem affects everybody, not only the hospital. We spend N16m monthly to buy diesel. We have a 500KV generator and another 350kv generator, as well as many other smaller generators to power each unit and department.

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The N16m that we pay is different from the N3m that we pay to IBEDC every month. Imagine what N19m could have done, if we had steady power supply in the country.

We have done what we could do as a management with the resources available. We have separate generators for many sections. If you turn on the light in the hospital because of the operations the doctors will do, we keep it running until 4pm. Even when the power is on, how many of the doctors are ready to perform surgeries? If we know that in our area power will come at a certain time, you programme your activities.

We lost three people in an attempt to stabilise the power supply. One of them was electrocuted and another dropped in water. What we are trying to do is to link up with the university and take power from Ganmo. Imagine the huge cost,” he said.