Pretoria – The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, says there is a need for security arrangements at hospitals to be reviewed.
Addressing media at Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg, where a health worker was assaulted and raped recently, the Deputy Minister said department officials would work to make all hospitals safe in the country.
He said the department was engaging with security experts to see how security could be beefed up and improved.
Deputy Minister Phaahla said one of the challenges facing health facilities was the use of security companies because sometimes there were weaknesses in their systems.
The Deputy Minister, along with Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and Deputy Minister of Police Makhotso Sotyu, visited the hospital on Friday to check on how the hospital had increased security since the attack earlier this month.
The phlebotomist nurse works for National Health Laboratory Services and the incident occurred at the Wits University controlled area within the hospital.
At the time, hospital management said they had taken precautionary security measures, such as availing extra security personnel, to escort health workers who need to move around the hospital.
Additional personnel were recruited to ensure that all floors are covered.
The hospital had set up a security committee to review the effects of the introduced security measures.
Deputy Minister Phaahla said the hospital had identified risk areas and employees who were vulnerable.
The hospital was also looking at providing panic buttons for its staff.
He said it was worrying that the woman was attacked at the hospital and that the perpetrator had keys to access the room in which she was working.
“She was viciously attacked, assaulted and raped,” said the Deputy Minister.
Deputy Minister Phaahla visited the woman, along with members of the police who were handling her case.
“We went to express our support, give her words of comfort and strength. She’s a remarkable woman, who is going through psychological stress,” Deputy Minister Phahla said.
CEO of Helen Joseph Hospital Dr Raymond Billa said the hospital had identified areas of concern and was communicating with the security company.
Billa said a wall had been built at the hospital as a security measure. – SAnews.gov.za
