Outcry over hospital police report demand

22 Feb, 2015 - 03:02 0 Views
Outcry over hospital police report demand

The Sunday News

zrp-VW-GTIPUBLIC health institutions are demanding police reports from victims of assault and associated crimes before treatment, a move that has been described as inhumane considering that most assault cases are emergencies.

Victims of violence also have the right to refuse to report their cases to the police, legal experts have said.

The Sunday News recently reported that a man from Fatima Village in Jotsholo died after being turned away from Fatima Clinic where nurses demanded a police report before treating him.

It is alleged that the elderly man had been assaulted by police details who wanted to know the whereabouts of his son who was involved in a rape and murder case. This made it difficult for his relatives to make an assault report with the same police they accuse of assaulting him, hence their decision to take him back home where he died.

Another Lobengula man recently said he was denied access to treatment at Mpilo Hospital after he was assaulted by unknown people as officials demanded a police report first.

The principal director (Curative Services) in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Mr Christopher Tapfumaneyi, said it was illegal for health personnel to deny patients treatment because they do not have police reports.

“I will investigate the matter but as Government institutions we do not do that. Police actually get information from a medical report that the hospital would have compiled to aid in the police report so this is actually news to me. I do not know where these Government institutions are getting it from but it is a lie that they should get a police report first,” he said.

Mr Tapfumaneyi said it was impossible that police make a report on behalf of someone.

“Police do not go and start compiling a report when you have not approached them. You actually go after treatment and make a report when you have a medical report that details the injuries that you have and they investigate,” he said.

Police spokesman Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said police reports enabled them to conduct investigations in cases of assault but could not be drawn into explaining why they demand that a victim of assault report to the police first before being treated for injuries.

Dr Rutendo Bonde, the chairperson of Zimbabwe Association for Doctors for Human Rights, said health institutions were missing the purpose of their existence.

“They are missing the point. They are meant to save lives, and it is their obligation to do so. Access to emergency treatment is a Constitutional guarantee so hospitals have no right to refuse at all,” said Dr Bonde.

She said human rights groups had made headway in trying to deal with the issue of police reports first in a bid to ensure that cases of domestic violence were dealt with accordingly.

“The health institution is the pathway that leads to reporting of domestic violence not the police station. There is need for advocacy so that the issue of police reports first is cleared,” she said.

Dr Bonde said the health ministry’s clients charter clearly states that the patient’s health must be put first before any other issues.

The chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health, Dr Ruth Labode, said she was appalled by the conduct of the hospital staff at these institutions.

“This is unacceptable that health personnel do such things. They have to put the health of the injured patient first and then the police report may follow after a life has been saved,” she said.

She argued that a medical doctor was also in a position to describe facts of injuries sustained better if they were needed by the police.

“Hospitals are not compelled to demand a police report before treatment. It must be treatment first and police reports may follow after. They should stop this practice,” she fumed.

Mrs Nonhlanhla Ndlovu, the chief executive officer of United Bulawayo Hospitals, said they were putting the health of the patient first.

“We treat a patient first, then if they need a medical report to show their injuries when they go to the police we assist them too but not to say we neglect our patients,” she said.

Mrs Ndlovu acknowledged that the police had a mandate to fulfil when they record police reports so that a perpetrator of a crime could answer to allegations made against them.

Legal expert Mr Chris Mhike said it was not in any section of the law that hospitals demand a police report from a victim before treatment.

“It is not in any section of the law in Zimbabwe that hospitals demand a police report before treatment, so they need to place urgency on the victim and treat him than to demand a police report,” he said.

Mr Mhike, however, said there were considerations to be made when looking at the issue as there was also a need to investigate cases on the part of the police.

“The justice system also has a role to play in such instances as someone has to answer to the crime of assault so police have the mandate to investigate when they hear correct details from the victim. So in a way they have to have a police report compiled but only when a person has been treated first,” Mr Mhike said.

He said in the legal world they apply what is called the “reasonable persons test” where one has to assess if the life of the victim is in danger such that they need urgent treatment or they are able to do a police report first then seek treatment.

“It would be unreasonable to watch a person bleed to death while you demand a police report, so such things need to be applied,” he said.

Mr Lizwe Jamela, another legal expert, concurred with Mr Mhike, saying it was not cast in stone that a police report be demanded first.

“It is not a policy and a police report is not mandatory. It is actually every human being’s constitutional right to have access to emergency medical care, failure to this is a violation of your rights as a person,” he said.

Mr Jamela said it was also not law that if you are injured in a case of assault you have to make a report to the police and that hospitals must stick to their mandate.

“Hospitals are not police stations; their first line of duty is treatment and care and not demanding police reports. Police can then come in at a later stage and get details after treatment that is if you want to report at all,” said Mr Jamela.

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