The Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta, Ogun State, has pledged to investigate an incident in which a dental operation was abruptly halted on Monday following a sudden power outage that left a patient in severe pain and unable to complete her treatment.
The incident occurred during a dental procedure being performed by a dentist identified simply as Dr. Adedoyin.
According to reports, the hospital experienced a blackout midway through the operation, forcing the dentist to suspend the procedure due to the lack of electricity and a faulty backup generator.
The affected patient, identified as Opeyemi Taofeekah, told our correspondent via telephone that she was in excruciating pain when the lights went out. She said she was later advised to return to the hospital on Wednesday when power supply was expected to have been restored.
“It was very painful,” Taofeekah said.
“The doctor had started the operation when the power suddenly went off. They said the generator wasn’t working, so I was asked to come back another day. I was in tears because the pain was unbearable.”
When contacted, a senior official of the hospital, who preferred not to be named, confirmed the incident but assured that the hospital management had commenced an internal investigation to determine what went wrong.
“The management has taken note of the unfortunate incident and will look into the circumstances that led to the disruption,” the official said. “We are committed to ensuring that such an experience does not happen again.”
The incident has sparked public concern over the reliability of power supply in public health institutions and the preparedness of medical facilities to handle emergencies during outages.
Healthcare advocates have since called on the Federal Government and hospital administrators to prioritise uninterrupted electricity and functional backup systems in medical centres to safeguard patients’ lives during procedures.
