A female patient and victim of alleged sexual harassment including fondling of her private parts, has spoken of her trauma after allegedly being sexually assaulted by a male nurse at the Netcare hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
The victim, who has filed a charge with the local police after a male anaesthesiologist allegedly sexually violated her, also accused the hospital of trying to get her to resolve the matter.
In a letter to the St Anne’s Netcare branch management, the victim said she was left traumatised by the experience.
“I am currently in a very bad state. I cannot eat well or sleep and (am) still very traumatised by what I have gone through. I do not think it is right morally or ethically for any doctor or employee of Netcare St Anne’s to be trying to advise me or tell me what to do for me to get justice. At this stage, I am trying to heal and experiences such as this only sets me back and make me realise that the hospital has their best interest at heart and do not care how I feel. How is the doctor even telling me to trust the hospital more than the law enforcement and other forms of justice system.
“If the hospital is complying and trying to assist me with my matter why not do the right thing and assist me with information instead of intimidating me, and telling me what I must do,” the victim says in an email to the hospital.
According to a close source, the patient was allegedly sexually abused by a male nurse during her visit to the hospital for the removal of a cyst.
“The operation on the patient took place on Friday (two weeks ago). The procedure to remove a cyst was done at about 1am on Saturday. What happened was that an anaesthetic agent was sitting with her in the recovery room.
“When the patient woke up, she felt that someone had been fiddling with her private parts. When the nurse realised that the patient is up, he tried to take her from the recovery room and went into a lift with her. Even inside the lift, he was still fiddling with her private parts. The lift went up and down for about three times.
“When they finally got out of the lift, the victim called a nurse as they were going to the wards, and asked the female nurse if it was procedural or acceptable for someone to touch her private parts in order to ascertain if the patient is awake or not. She then told the female nurse that she had been touched on her private parts while at the recovery room,” the source said.
It is further alleged that the male nurse had an unknown injection with him.
The source said, “However, the patient refuted that she is hallucinating and told the supervisor that she had been injected with an unknown injection in the recovery room and inside the lift. The victim then asked for the nurses to search the pockets of the alleged perpetrator and indeed they found the injection. She then called her family who called the cops and a case was opened with the police.”
Responding to an inquiry from The Star, the hospital said: “An employee was suspended with immediate effect, and Netcare St Anne’s Hospital management has launched a full investigation following an allegation of sexual misconduct.”
Sharon Singh, the hospital’s general manager, said in a statement: “We were deeply disturbed when a patient came forward with a complaint that a male healthcare worker sexually assaulted her following a procedure at our hospital. We are appalled by these allegations and sincerely apologise to our patient.”
She added that the hospital did not condone what allegedly happened to the victim, as “no one should ever feel or be threatened or harassed, particularly in a healthcare setting”.
Singh said the hospital had acted with speed as soon as the allegations were made known to the facility.
“As soon as we were made aware of these serious allegations, management and the treating doctor reached out to offer immediate support to the patient and to facilitate trauma counselling. Such behaviour is entirely at odds with our Netcare values, and the employee was immediately suspended from our hospital pending the outcome of a full investigation. As is the case with all Netcare facilities, Netcare St Anne’s Hospital has a zero tolerance approach to any form of sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour, and a full internal investigation has commenced,” she added.
The Star