The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Health says it will closely monitor an investigation into an alleged assault involving a nurse at a Durban hospital.
Committee chairperson Dr Imran Keeka said there was no justification for healthcare workers to assault patients and urged anyone who experiences abuse at a healthcare facility to report it.
“Ours is a duty of oversight as the portfolio committee, and we will take that very seriously in all such instances, whether they are referred to us,” Keeka said.
A nurse at King Dinuzulu Hospital has been placed on precautionary suspension after allegedly slapping a patient and making inappropriate remarks.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has appointed an investigator to examine the allegations.
Keeka said the legislature regularly monitors disciplinary matters within the provincial health department and receives quarterly reports detailing the number of cases being handled.
“This one is quite public, but there are indeed other matters that are referred to us and to the department. We constantly check up with the department on disciplinary matters, not only involving this, but also other matters as well,” he said.
He acknowledged that healthcare workers operate under challenging conditions but stressed that difficult working environments cannot excuse violence against patients.
Keeka encouraged patients and members of the public to report incidents through hospital management, public relations officers or directly to the Health Portfolio Committee.
“There’s always management of the facility. Hospitals have public relations officers. Go and lodge your question because if it reaches us via our caucuses, where we have political party caucuses, or you write directly to the Health Portfolio Committee, or somehow it reaches one of the members of the legislature, then we need to have recourse,” he said.
“We need to be able to say, ‘Where did it start? Was it reported at the facility?’”
The committee says it will continue to exercise its oversight role as the investigation into the alleged assault proceeds.