Resident Doctor Dies After Alleged 72-Hour Shift

A A young resident doctor, Dr. Oluwafemi Rotifa, has died after collapsing at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Port Harcourt, following what colleagues described as a grueling 72-hour call duty.

According to reports, Dr. Rotifa slumped in the hospital’s call room on Monday shortly after reviewing a patient. Despite frantic efforts by colleagues to revive him at the intensive care unit, he did not survive.

Confirming the incident, Dr. Tope Osundara, President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), condemned the excessive workload that doctors in Nigeria face, stressing that burnout and manpower shortages are pushing healthcare workers to dangerous limits.

“The burnout and workload among medical doctors is becoming very worrisome. We have cried out and complained repeatedly,” Osundara said.

“What happened was that he had been on emergency room call duty for days. He later went to rest in the call room, but colleagues later found him on the floor. Sadly, efforts to resuscitate him failed.”

He added that investigations revealed Dr. Rotifa had been battling malaria while still carrying out his duties.

“Adults in Nigeria rarely die of malaria since it is endemic. The overuse of manpower strained his health and led to this painful death. His death was due to overworking,” Osundara noted.

The NARD president lamented that in many hospitals, doctors are forced to endure continuous shifts that sometimes last weeks, despite global best practices recommending humane duty schedules.

He called on the government to urgently address staff shortages, improve welfare packages, and enforce work regulations to prevent further tragedies among health workers.

Dr. Rotifa’s death has reignited debate over Nigeria’s underfunded health system, brain drain in the medical sector, and the welfare of young doctors who often bear the heaviest workload.

Source: The Cable