News / Health
Man dies outside hospital after being turned away by guards
17 Sep 2014 at 02:31hrs | Views
A destitute was found dead outside Gweru Provincial Hospital after allegedly being turned away by security guards when he came seeking treatment.
Taxi drivers who witnessed the tragic event said the incident occurred on Monday at around 5PM.
"This is terrible. Around 5PM yesterday (Monday) this man was brought by a city council ambulance as he was seriously ill.
He was taken inside the hospital but moments later we saw two security officers from the hospital dragging the man out of the premises and dumping him just outside the gate," said one of the drivers.
They said the sad thing about the incident was that the man appeared to be mentally ill and was clutching papers which they said were a card and a prescription for drugs.
The man, the witnesses said, was supposed to go and buy medicine at pharmacies in town.
When this reporter visited the scene yesterday at around 9AM people and commuter omnibus operators were gathered around the man's body.
Others alleged the man died yesterday morning as no one looked after him.
Gweru Provincial Hospital Superintendent, Dr Fabian Mashingaidze, confirmed the incident.
"I can confirm that there is a man who was found dead just outside the hospital gate. This man is a destitute who used to come to the hospital for medical treatment."
Dr Mashingaidze dismissed reports that nurses at the hospital ordered security guards to dump the dying man outside the health institution's premises.
Efforts to engage the hospital security guards were fruitless as they all declined to comment due to "professional reasons".
However, the security guards could be heard telling each other that they did nothing wrong as they were only acting on orders from the nurses.
A senior security officer said they could not comment on the issue as it was already in the hands of the police.
Acting Midlands police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende said police received a report of a sudden death that occurred at Gweru Provincial Hospital on Monday.
She, however, said the police could not comment much on the matter as they were still to receive the finer details of the matter.
"We are aware of such an issue but at the moment I cannot give you a full report. The memo on the issue is still to be sent to my office," said Asst Insp Mukwende.
Taxi drivers who witnessed the tragic event said the incident occurred on Monday at around 5PM.
"This is terrible. Around 5PM yesterday (Monday) this man was brought by a city council ambulance as he was seriously ill.
He was taken inside the hospital but moments later we saw two security officers from the hospital dragging the man out of the premises and dumping him just outside the gate," said one of the drivers.
They said the sad thing about the incident was that the man appeared to be mentally ill and was clutching papers which they said were a card and a prescription for drugs.
The man, the witnesses said, was supposed to go and buy medicine at pharmacies in town.
When this reporter visited the scene yesterday at around 9AM people and commuter omnibus operators were gathered around the man's body.
Others alleged the man died yesterday morning as no one looked after him.
Gweru Provincial Hospital Superintendent, Dr Fabian Mashingaidze, confirmed the incident.
"I can confirm that there is a man who was found dead just outside the hospital gate. This man is a destitute who used to come to the hospital for medical treatment."
Dr Mashingaidze dismissed reports that nurses at the hospital ordered security guards to dump the dying man outside the health institution's premises.
Efforts to engage the hospital security guards were fruitless as they all declined to comment due to "professional reasons".
However, the security guards could be heard telling each other that they did nothing wrong as they were only acting on orders from the nurses.
A senior security officer said they could not comment on the issue as it was already in the hands of the police.
Acting Midlands police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende said police received a report of a sudden death that occurred at Gweru Provincial Hospital on Monday.
She, however, said the police could not comment much on the matter as they were still to receive the finer details of the matter.
"We are aware of such an issue but at the moment I cannot give you a full report. The memo on the issue is still to be sent to my office," said Asst Insp Mukwende.
Source - Chronicle
