PATIENT BITES OFF NURSE’S EAR
..as management fails to secure treatment for the victim
Management at Ndola Central Hospital, have failed to provide medical care for a male nurse, whose ear was bitten and partially cut off by a mental patient.
Brief facts are that on Friday night while on duty, the nurse was trying to restrain a violent mental patient at the hospital after a fight broke out in the ward, after which the patient got violent and chewed the nurse’s ear.
But a fellow medical practitioner who spoke on condition of annonimity for fear of victimisation has revealed that that despite their colleague being in a serious condition,management has done nothing to help him saying treatment can only be administered when NHIMA approves since the nurse requires to undergo a CT scan.
He has lamented that the Hospital has not recieved any psychiatric drugs despite endless pleas to restock the vital medicine which is used to treat mental patients who are mostly violent.
The medical practitioner has further wondered why mental health hospitals have not recieved Diazepam, which is a sedative and a very vital drug for everyday operations.
“We have not had this vital drug to treat mental patients for over a year now. How do these people think we are handling mental patients” he asked.
An appeal has since been made for powers that be to intervene in the matter failure to which, the patient may suffer more pain, while service delivery will greatly be compromised.
Efforts to get comments from management proved futile.