Five nurses from the Steve Biko Academic Hospital have been placed on suspension by the facility management after allegations of gross negligence, the Gauteng health department said on Wednesday.
Their suspension followed an incident at the hospital involving a 28-year-old man which was captured on video by a member of the public at the emergency unit on February 25.
In the video, the man sitting on the floor is held by two people while others frantically call staff to help the man. One said the person is “dying in front of us while you are busy on the phone”. The nurses quickly take the patient away.
The department said the patient died in hospital.
“The facility management continues to engage the affected family to enable redress process to unfold. Counselling services have also been offered to the family.”
The department said the “unfortunate” incident happened at a time when the hospital was strengthening interventions to improve patients’ experience of care.
“Those measures include the launch of the Gauteng health department's 'I Serve with A Smile' campaign, a change management programme aimed at improving staff attitudes and quality of services.”
TimesLIVE
Steve Biko Hospital suspends five nurses to probe negligence claims
'Unfortunate incident' captured on video by member of public
Image: 123RF/HXDBZXY
Five nurses from the Steve Biko Academic Hospital have been placed on suspension by the facility management after allegations of gross negligence, the Gauteng health department said on Wednesday.
Their suspension followed an incident at the hospital involving a 28-year-old man which was captured on video by a member of the public at the emergency unit on February 25.
In the video, the man sitting on the floor is held by two people while others frantically call staff to help the man. One said the person is “dying in front of us while you are busy on the phone”. The nurses quickly take the patient away.
The department said the patient died in hospital.
“The facility management continues to engage the affected family to enable redress process to unfold. Counselling services have also been offered to the family.”
The department said the “unfortunate” incident happened at a time when the hospital was strengthening interventions to improve patients’ experience of care.
“Those measures include the launch of the Gauteng health department's 'I Serve with A Smile' campaign, a change management programme aimed at improving staff attitudes and quality of services.”
TimesLIVE
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