SAMA condemns lack of security at Kimberley hospital

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) says the stabbing of two doctors at the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley on Friday night (17 September) is yet another example of where public hospitals in the country are failing to adequately protect staff.

According to reports a male patient at the hospital stabbed two female doctors and another patient with a knife before eventually being restrained by the hospital’s security personnel. The doctors were stabbed in their arms. It’s unknown where the other patient was stabbed. The incident occurred in the hospital’s casualty ward.

“Incidents such as these erode the confidence of doctors that they are able to perform their duties in a safe environment. For how long will provincial authorities stand by and watch innocent doctors and patients be subjected to these types of incidents? It’s unfair on them, and it’s unfair on the patients who need treatment. Something urgent is needed to address safety and security issues not only at this hospital but at all provincial facilities throughout the country,” says Dr Angelique Coetzee, Chairperson of SAMA.

Dr Coetzee says management at the hospital must explain how a patient was able to wander around the halls of the hospital unchecked with a knife, and why there weren't sufficient security personnel on duty at the casualty ward on Friday night.

“Doctors on duty in casualty wards are providing critical services to patients and they cannot be looking over their shoulders every minute, concerned that they might be the next victim. Hospital management has a duty to protect these healthcare workers, and when incidents such as this occur, they are obviously failing in that duty,” notes Dr Coetzee.

The man arrested in connection with the stabbing is scheduled to appear in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court this week.

[ENDS]