UNIPORT Teaching Hospital to sanction doctors who refused to treat gunshot patients

Management of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) has vowed to deal with medical doctors or nurses who refused to render urgent medical care to any victim of bullet wound because of police report.

Professor Tobin West, the Acting Medical Director of UPTH made the clarification on a live phone-in radio programme on Friday in Port Harcourt.

The Acting MD of UPTH said that it is unethical for a medical personnel to deny a patient with bullet wound treatment simply because he or she does not possess police report.

“We are not policemen. Our job is to save lives of patients, even when convicted or unconvicted criminals. It is left for the police to do their job. It has been our age-long practice as a tertiary hospital even before it was signed into law recently by the federal government,” Prof Tobin-West said.

He was reacting to allegations of the family of a popular Disc Jockey (DJ) Boma Bobmanuel alias DJ Rooky who was shot on January 1, at Buguma in Asari Toru local government area of Rivers state and denied urgent medical attention because he was not with a Police Report and unfortunately bled to death.

Prof Tobin-West expressed surprise that such incident can be said to have occurred in the tertiary institution under his watch when the primary duty of a medical personnel is to save lives.

He requested for details of when the late DJ Rooky was rushed to the hospital so that those on duty could be traced and investigations on the allegation carried out.