CAIRO: Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar has ordered an urgent investigation amid a social media uproar over a shocking video revealing an assault on nurses and employees inside a government hospital in northern Egypt.
A nurse reportedly suffered a miscarriage while eight others were injured in Thursday’s incident at Quesna Central Hospital in the Menofia Governorate.
In the circulating video clip, which appears to show a quarrel between a family and nurses, people can be seen attacking nursing staff amid the screams of those present and great chaos.
Ghaffar traveled to the Menofia Governorate to follow up on the repercussions of the attack.
He stressed in a statement that all legal measures were taken to preserve the dignity and safety of health service providers.
Kawthar Mahmoud, head of the nurses’ syndicate, called on authorities to expedite the investigation and take urgent legal measures against those behind the assault, emphasizing the need to confront cases of assault on and intimidation of hospital staff.
Hussein Khairy, head of Egypt’s doctors’ syndicate, said that he and the council of the syndicate fully supported the nurses and other hospital staff who were brutally assaulted while carrying out their duties.
Khairy said that he met the minister after the latter returned from the hospital visit.
All necessary legal measures were underway, Khairy quoted the minister as saying.
Maya Morsi, head of Egypt’s National Council for Women, said that the council will provide all legal assistance to nurses who were victims of the assault.
Some on social media claimed that among the attackers was an Egyptian army officer, which prompted military spokesman Gharib Abdel-Hafez to comment that the army is closely following the incident at Quesna Central Hospital and extends its full respect for the rule of law. He called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
The incident began when a man, accompanied by his brother and a number of women, brought a female patient — suffering from bleeding — to the hospital’s emergency room when all gynecologists were busy with other surgeries.
When the nurse informed the doctor of the details of the case, he requested that an ultrasound and some medical tests be performed until the ongoing surgeries were completed, but the man accompanying the patient demanded immediate medical care. He also reportedly insulted the hospital staff.
According to the nurses, the women accompanying the patient also began to threaten them with assault. Two people then entered the women’s ward and beat the nurses in the department.
The patient’s companions justified their actions, claiming that the medics were negligent and deliberately delayed assistance to the patient.
