Young Resident Doctor Dies After 72-Hour Shift at Rivers State University Teaching Hospital
A somber atmosphere has enveloped the medical community following the sudden death of Dr. Femi Rotiifah, a young resident doctor at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Port Harcourt. He reportedly collapsed and died after working an exhausting 72-hour stretch in the hospital’s Emergency Room.
According to eyewitness accounts, Dr. Rotiifah had been on continuous call duty for three consecutive days, attending to patients with little or no rest. After completing the demanding shift, he proceeded to the doctors’ call room to rest but tragically slumped and never regained consciousness. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by his colleagues, he was pronounced dead.
Confirming the development, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Tope Osundara, described the incident as “a death on duty,” attributing it to the excessive workload and inadequate manpower in hospitals across the country. “He was the only one on call in the Emergency Room. The pressure of work and prolonged hours took a toll on his health. This is a sad reflection of what doctors are going through in our health system,” he lamented.
Dr. Rotiifah was widely admired among peers for his dedication to medicine. He previously served as President of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association (PUMSA) and had recently secured registration with the United Kingdom’s General Medical Council (GMC), awaiting placement abroad. His untimely death has left colleagues and friends devastated, with many taking to social media to pay heartfelt tributes and share memories of his commitment to saving lives.
The tragic incident has reignited national conversations about the harsh working conditions faced by Nigerian doctors, particularly resident doctors who often endure long, back-to-back shifts without sufficient rest. Medical associations and stakeholders have renewed calls for urgent reforms in the health sector, stressing the need for improved welfare, staffing, and working conditions to prevent further loss of lives among frontline healthcare professionals.
This is sad, but it might interest to note that if you take a critical look at the Nigerian Doctors payroll, you will discover that they Doctors on the payroll who are working outside Nigeria and are paid in full all they are entitled to.
May the Soul of the Doctor Rest in peace. But what did the Labour law say about working hours and what is the regulatory agency doing about this. The regulatory agency is interesting in collection of bribe without minding the objectives for the formulation of the Act. People will just post for posting sake, what happens after your post why will the hospital allow him to work 72 hours against the law of the Country that set up that Hospital