• Viral video shows nurse physically assaulting patient.
• DoH disciplinary process cannot end there.
• DA to report gross professional conduct to SANC.
Please note Dr Keeka, MPL sound bite in English
The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) strongly condemns the actions of a King Dinizulu Hospital nurse, who physically assaulted a patient. The act is depicted on a video currently circulating on social media.
While KZN’s Department of Health (DoH) must follow due process and conduct its internal disciplinary process, this matter cannot end there. If the facts as reported are confirmed, the nurse must also face criminal charges.
This is gross professional misconduct, and the DA will report the matter to the South African Nursing Council (SANC) – the custodian of professional conduct and ethics within the nursing profession – as soon as the nurses name becomes available.
These actions, as they appear, constitute a gross violation of professional standards and the very oath and obligations healthcare professionals undertake.
Patients come to our healthcare facilities to be treated, cared for and healed – with dignity, compassion and respect. They do not come to be assaulted, humiliated or abused, whether verbally or, even more seriously, physically.
The law and every applicable professional process must come down hard on this individual in the event that the allegations are proven. There must be consequences, and those consequences must send an unequivocal warning to every other healthcare professional: abuse of patients will not be tolerated.
Healthcare is a profession of trust. Those who betray that trust must be held fully accountable.
The DA remains a committed partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity and will continue to advocate for a working healthcare system that is ethical, capable and caring, for all.