Families of patients at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday, staged a peaceful protest against persistent power outages in the institution.

The PUNCH reports that incessant power outages have been recurring in the hospital since it was grouped into Band A electricity consumers.

The News Agency of Nigeria also reports that there has not been light at UCH since October 26 when the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company disconnected the hospital due to accumulated debts.

The hospital management and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company had recently disputed the accumulated electricity bill.

Following the development, the Joint Health Sector Unions at the UCH appealed to the Federal Government to come to the institution’s aid.

On Monday, families of patients admitted to the hospital lamented incessant power outages.

Some relatives lamented the inability to get quality medical attention from the hospital due to the power outage.

A few hours after the protest, it was gathered that the electricity supply was restored to the institution.

One of the protesters, Adetunji Lawal, questioned: “What measures can be implemented to ensure that power supply becomes a priority for healthcare facilities like UCH?

“The threat of healthcare workers downing tools serves as a powerful reminder of the stakes involved in this issue. Medical professionals are dedicated to their work, but their safety and the safety of their patients must come first.

“The reality of healthcare in Nigeria, often challenged by inadequate infrastructure, must be addressed with urgency and commitment.

“UCH is not the only institution grappling with these challenges, but the government and relevant authorities must take heed of their protest.”

He stressed that a concerted effort must be made to resolve the power supply issues to safeguard the health and well-being of the community.

Another protester, who did not want her name in print, said “We are tired of our loved ones suffering; patients are dying because they cannot receive the medical tests needed for treatment.

“The outages have not only hindered immediate medical assessments but have also severely complicated ongoing treatments, leaving families in a state of despair.

“Hospital administration has a responsibility to ensure a safe and reliable environment for both patients and staff. The risk of having medical procedures interrupted or delayed due to power failures is unacceptable in any healthcare setting.”

Speaking on behalf of some of the patients’ relatives, one Mr Ismail Mohammed decried the fact that his father was not attended to because the test result was not out.

“We did a test for almost two weeks now, but the result is not yet out. They have been telling us the same story of ‘no light’ and ‘no light’ since then.

“The doctors cannot attend to him till the result is out, and that is the most painful thing. We are supposed to have left the hospital before now if the result was out,” he said.

Also, one Mr. Water Chimee lamented that patients were suffering because the power outage affected everything.

“My baby sister who has been on oxygen has not been attended to because the result of the test we did is not out yet.

“Doctors can’t even commence treatment for her because they need to see the result to know what’s wrong.

“Even, there is no water in the hospital. Patients have had to bring in rechargeable torch lights for the doctors to use. We are tired of the whole situation.

“If patients need blood now, there is no light to scan it and if they want to perform surgery there should be blood on the ground normally. The situation is really taking its toll on patients.

“Please, the government and relevant stakeholders should come to the aid of the hospital before the situation leads to its total collapse,” he said.

It was reliably gathered that the management of the institution was in the meeting at the time of filing this report.

However, the Chairman of the UCH branch of JOHESU, Mr Oladayo Olabampe, while reacting to the power outage, told NAN that the hospital needed assistance to survive.

Olabampe, who decried the bill from IBEDC as alarming and outrageous for a hospital such as UCH, said the government had to assist the health facility by stepping in.

“The bill is killing. IBEDC put UCH on Band A but we can’t afford the bill of Band A.

“This is why the hospital management told the company to remove UCH from Band A and put it in Band B. But it (IBEDC) did not.

“So, we now want the government to prevail on IBEDC to return UCH to Band B where it can afford to pay.

“Philanthropists and well-meaning Nigerians should also come to UCH’s aid and support it,” he said.

The JOHESU Chairman noted that Federal Government-owned hospitals such as UCH were put in place for “welfare.”

“Sometimes, some patients don’t even pay because they cannot afford to pay their bills even after we have treated them.

“So, IBEDC should just cooperate with the UCH management to settle some part of the bill for now and reconnect us, while the payment negotiation continues,” he said.

Olabampe said IBEDC had been charging UCH between N70m and N80m monthly.

“In addition to this, we still buy diesel because they don’t give us light for 24 hours,” he said.

The JOHESU official, however, assured that the UCH management was doing its best to ensure that light was restored very soon.

“The management is trying to find a way out of this. There is nothing much one can do without light, other than to manage,” he said.

Olabampe disclosed that the UCH management carried JOHESU along as the whole situation unfolded.

“The management made us understand the situation and their indebtedness, and we hope the power outage will soon be over.

“But IBEDC must remove us from Band A. If not, we will continue to run in debt,” he said.

PUNCH