43 attacks on staff at Gauteng hospitals

13 September 2022

Staff at 17 public hospitals in Gauteng live in fear after 43 vicious attacks on them by patients since January last year.

Most of their attackers were psychiatric patients who were not kept in properly secured psychiatric wards.

This information is disclosed by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

Weskoppies psychiatric hospital had the highest number of attacks - 16 staff were attacked, including 9 slaps/punches to the head, two human bites and one hit on the groin.

George Mukhari Hospital had 5 assaults on staff by mental patients, with two attacks in the Accident and Emergency, one of which was attempted strangulation.

Three of the four attacks at the Far East Rand Hospital were human bites, and the other attack injured the employee’s upper lip and jaw.

Other hospitals with violent incidents include the following:

-Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital - 4 attacks, including a speech therapist who was bitten on the finger
- Bheki Mlangeni Hospital - 4 attacks, of which three were by psychiatric patients
- Steve Biko, Sebokeng, Bertha Gxowa and Leratong Hospitals each suffered two attacks on staff

According to Mokgethi, all the incidents happened in departments other than Psychiatric units, and psychiatric patients are nursed in normal wards due to limited beds in the psychiatric ward.

All mental patients admitted to hospital are required to be observed for 72 hours, but facilities are still inadequate even though pledges were made to improve mental health care after the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

Staff and mental health patients are victims of this neglect which needs to be rectified as soon as possible.

It's yet another failing of a department plagued by mismanagement and rampant corruption.

We as the DA propose that a proper safety audit of hospitals be conducted, and where security risk is high, especially in hospitals that receive psychiatric patients, adequate steps be taken to ensure the safety of both hospital personnel and patients.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 13 September 2022