Durban — The Public Servants Association of SA (PSA) has urged the KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane to appoint a senior officer who will deal with all the pending issues in Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital.
This comes after a video was circulated on social media showing a security guard fighting with a patient inside Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital’s premises.
In the video, a patient, who had blood all over his face, was heard asking the guard, “why are you assaulting me? What have I done?”
PSA provincial manager Mlungisi Ndlovu said: “We urge the KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane to appoint a senior who will resolve the pending issues in Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital. There are a lot of issues in this hospital. Such incidents are common. It needs to be fixed immediately. It is obvious that safety is a huge concern in this hospital.
“It is really shocking what we have just witnessed. The MEC should prioritise these matters and have a thorough investigation. We really condemn violence of this nature. It is totally not acceptable,” said Ndlovu.
He added that they would visit the hospital to obtain a full report of the incident. Ndlovu also mentioned that everyone, especially nurses and security personnel, needed to be continually trained about safety to be able to handle such situations without violence.
KZN Health Spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa said the department had called an urgent meeting.
“As the Department of Health, we condemn violence in health-care premises. We have already contacted the security company, and the company has taken measures against their employees as well. The patient also did receive medical attention,” said Maphisa.
The Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital, when contacted by Daily News, said they should be contacted on Monday for any further comment on the matter.
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