Patient chokes nurse in hospital

Union threatens to withdraw members

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) in Ekurhuleni has threatened to withdraw its members from Pholosong Hospital in Tsakane after a nurse was attacked by a patient yesterday. According to the union, the nurse was choked by a patient at around 6am. “The nurse was attacked and strangled by a patient in the passage inside the facility. After choking her, [the patient] took her cellphones, leaving her down and unconscious for some time... because private security has proven over many times that it is ineffective and should be insourced,” Denosa said. “But government continues to ignore this call as if someone is benefiting handsomely from outsourcing this critical healthcare service.”

The patient, the union added, went through two security checkpoints without a single security guard in sight. The nurse was allegedly a second victim of the same patient. “Denosa asks the question again: must workers die inside a facility first for the security services to be insourced so that the security staff are immediately accountable?”

The union said it was organising a meeting with Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku over the matter “because it will withdraw its members from this unsafe condition if nothing is done”. “This incident was discovered when the perpetrator had already left the facility after attacking the nurse, whereas there are CCTV cameras inside the facility and not a single security at control room was monitoring them so they could pick it up,” the union said.