Security at  Nelson Mandela Bay hospitals in spotlight

All services at the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital in Kariega have been restored after a nurse was attacked and death threats were made against staff at the weekend.

The nurse was assaulted when three men brought a man with multiple gunshot wounds to the hospital shortly after 6am on Sunday.

According to the Eastern Cape health department, the men arrived in a black Ford Fiesta and demanded that the nurses on duty take the wounded man from their car for treatment.

When the nurses told them there were only women on duty and asked them to help carry the wounded man into the trauma unit, one of the men punched the nurse in the face and then kicked her.

Security guards at the trauma unit had to call security staff at the main gate for assistance.

Before speeding off, the men allegedly threatened the lives of the hospital staff should the patient die.

He was, however, declared dead on arrival.

In Behind The Herald Headlines with Daron Mann this week, we speak to Eastern Cape health department spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase about measures to improve security at all health facilities in Nelson Mandela Bay.

We also speak to police spokesperson Col Priscilla Naidu, who said a gang-related shooting before the hospital incident was being investigated.

She said police had interviewed the nurse who, at that stage, declined to open a case as she was still recovering and undergoing counselling.