SAUDI GAZETTE

JEDDAH — The Health Affairs in Taif suspended from service three nurses who were accused of abusing a baby in the city's Children's Hospital.

Abdulhadi Al-Rabie, Taif Health Affairs spokesman, said a video that went viral on social media showed the three nurses mistreating the baby.

The video showed one of the nurses squeezing the baby's face while her two colleagues looked on and laughed.

"The Health Affairs investigated the source of the video and was able to identify the nurses who appeared in the video and the hospital where the incident took place. The nurses were immediately suspended by the order of Director of Taif Health Affairs Saleh Al-Muanis,” said Al-Rabie.

The infant's father told the media that he was shocked to see his baby being abused in a video that was circulated on social media.

He said he admitted the baby to the hospital for 10 days due to a urinary tract infection.

He called on the Ministry of Health to take stiff action against not only the nurses who abused his baby but also those who violated its right by circulating the video for public viewing.

Walid Al-Zahrani, a journalist, said the nurses must be put to trial and named in public to let them understand that “people’s lives are not a matter of joke."

Others who reacted to the incident called for installing surveillance cameras in different sections of all hospitals to document any possible violations.

Dr. Mamdouh Eshi described the dreadful act by the qualified Saudi nurses as "a dark spot on the white coat of medical professionals".

Al-Rabie said the nurses will face severe penalties if the investigations proved them guilty of the abuses documented in the video.