Abuse by nurse caught on video: daughter gets lawyer

The daughter of a Hammarsdale woman allegedly verbally abused by a St Mary's Hospital nurse - who was caught on a now-viral video - is consulting a lawyer to get answers on what exactly went on in her mother's final hours.

"I am traumatised by what I saw. I did not know that my mother was humiliated like that until I saw the video," Asanda Ngcobo told The Times.

A 30-year-old woman posted the video on Facebook on Tuesday after the alleged abuse and the subsequent death of her ward mate, Mavis Ngcobo, 43.

She did not want to be named because she had been receiving death threats.

The video shows a nurse telling the patient to "get up" and use the bedpan.

"My mother had pneumonia and was too weak to get up. She should have not even been in a general ward. She was seriously ill.

"My mother was humiliated. I can't accept that my mother was treated like that just hours before she died," Ngcobo said.

She said Facebook comments defending the nurse and criticising the woman for posting the video were "wrong".

"I am not angry at the woman who put up that video. She did it to help other patients. I am angry at the nurse. She was belittling her," Ngcobo said.

Ngcobo has no plans to meet the hospital's management or the KwaZulu-Natal department of health.

"My lawyer must now deal with this. I have to bury my mother."

The health department said it appeared the nurse did not address the patient in a manner that conveyed empathy.

"The nurse also appears to be changing the patient's nappy without drawing the curtains. Such conduct is contrary to the Batho Pele principles and codes governing healthcare professionals," said department spokesman Samuel Mkhwanazi.