Cat fights‚ booze and 'witchcraft' fuel violence in Gauteng hospitals

Gauteng hospitals appear to be a hotbed of violence‚ cat fights and alcohol abuse‚ according to information supplied to the Democratic Alliance.

Staff in Gauteng hospitals have been attacked 107 times since January last year‚ mostly by patients or their relatives‚ said Jack Bloom‚ the DA’s Shadow Health MEC in Gauteng.

But hospital staff themselves were guilty. One incident involved accusations of witchcraft among hospital staff‚ while another involved a threat of violence between colleagues.

“I am shocked at the high level of violence inflicted on health workers who are trying to heal the sick‚” Bloom said in a statement.

The assaults range from verbal threats and abuse‚ to physical attacks and a disturbing number of bites (13 in total)‚ Bloom said.

The statistics were revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa in a written reply to questions posed by Bloom in the Gauteng legislature.

Tembisa Hospital had the most attacks on staff (16)‚ followed by Weskoppies with 13 attacks‚ Leratong with 12 and Pholosong with 8 incidents.

The Chris Hani Baragwanath‚ George Mukhari‚ Helen Joseph and Far East Rand hospitals all experienced seven attacks on staff.

Charlotte Maxeke had no reported attacks.

The figures for other hospitals were:

• Kalafong and Sterkfontein - 6 each
• South Rand - 5
• Steve Biko‚ Mamelodi and Tambo Memorial - 3 each
• Thelle Mogoerane‚ Bertha Gxowa‚ Carletonville‚ Odi and Pretoria West - 1 each

At Tembisa Hospital‚ the recorded incidents were as follows:

• Verbal assault from visitors - 1
• Verbal assault from patients - 2
• Physical assault from patients - 7
• Human bites from patients - 3
• Physical assaults from visitors - 2
• Physical assault from fellow colleagues - 1

“At the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital‚ an employee accused a colleague of being a witch and a nurse threatened a fellow employee with a knife‚” Bloom said.

“According to Ramokgopa‚ the identified reasons include frustrated or traumatized patients‚ alcohol abuse‚ bad attitudes and some psychotic mental health patients.

“Many attacks take place at night or over the weekend‚ particularly at the casualty department.

“Increased security can assist in bringing down the attacks‚ but the underlying cause is unfortunately the general violence and intolerance in our society.”

- Additional reporting by David Gernon

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE