DA requests Health Ombud to investigate assault of disabled boy
4 October 2023
The DA will request the Health Ombud, Prof Taole Mokoena, to investigate the incident where two security guards assaulted a 13-year-old disabled patient at the Ladysmith Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal.
While the DA commends the swift action of the KZN Department of Health to dismiss the security guards and the implementation of internal disciplinary processes against implicated nursing staff, we believe the Ombud should determine whether this horrific assault is an isolated incident or part of a larger pattern of abuse at the hospital.
The DA will submit parliamentary questions (PQ) to determine the instances of patient abuse in all the provinces, as well as cases of patients abusing health care personnel.
In answer to a written PQ from the DA, the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, revealed that more than 435 health care workers have suffered incidents of violence towards them at the hands of mental health patients since 2019, with 180 incidents in this year alone. This excludes incidents from Gauteng, Limpopo and the Northern Cape as these provinces failed to provide the requested information. The 123 incidents of assault in the Western Cape reflects all patient attacks on health care workers and are not limited to attacks by mental health care users in psychiatric hospitals.