Mental Health Worker.. 'He strangled me with a cord and i thought this is it im going to die'.
A staff member working on a mental health unit in West Bromwich , talks about her experience when a patient tried to kill her by strangling her. She blacked out and though he was going to die. Now she contemplates leaving the country to start all over again and escape the nightmare.
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00:00 So we're here, Heath Lane, West Brom NHS facility in Kazimun, this is your place of work?
00:05 It is.
00:06 Most of us are afforded with a luxury of at least safety and security at work, but in
00:11 your role it's a bit different.
00:12 Just fill us in on what you do here Kazim?
00:15 So it's a mental health hospital, but if you enjoy and love the job you don't classify
00:26 us as 'we're going to go out, we're going to get hurt', that's not what we come out
00:30 to think.
00:31 But now it's completely changed to me where...
00:33 Well, yeah, let's just fill us in on... there was a chap sentenced yesterday, just fill
00:40 us in on what exactly happened to you Kazima, it's quite full on isn't it really?
00:44 I got strangled in his bedroom, I was on his observation, I got strangled and tried to
00:49 fight, to breathe, and I just felt like my soul was leaving my body and I blacked out.
00:58 This is it?
00:59 Yeah, and that's it, I blacked out, so I don't remember anything after, I only heard the
01:02 witnesses saying what happened after.
01:04 So this was a patient on the ward wasn't it?
01:07 Yes.
01:08 And what can we say now he's been sentenced, he got a long record of incidents of attacking
01:16 staff.
01:17 Yeah, I thought there was a lot, there was over 46 counts and it shocked me like...
01:22 That's a lot isn't it?
01:23 That made me quite emotional, like so many people out there have been hurt by this person.
01:28 But I was trying to save someone's life because all I did was just look after them.
01:35 So what happened then, you were just what, in the room just checking?
01:38 No, no, he's been placed on two observations all the time, of himself and also me and the
01:46 male staff were on his observation, so he went to the toilet and the male stood outside
01:52 and the door shut and then obviously he ran towards me with a cord and strangled me.
01:56 And he got the cord out, was it some joggers or something?
01:59 He was already out, yeah his joggers.
02:01 So he got it kind of planned, you know what I mean?
02:06 So this, I mean, you know, hijab, that's the right word isn't it?
02:14 You've even had a bit of, you know...
02:16 I've been very for the first two months I remember knowing this claustrophobic feeling
02:22 still in my throat, where I said, okay I can't go to work because if someone sees me without
02:28 it I'll get judged in the community.
02:30 Everything was going on through my head, my mental health went extreme, that I was on
02:34 medication for sleep, still on them to be honest.
02:38 Well you're back at work aren't you?
02:39 Which frankly is amazing after what you've been through really.
02:42 I'm more like a person that faces a fear.
02:45 Yeah don't let it beat you sort of thing.
02:46 He was getting me the worst at home, that I said I need to face it, I need to know if
02:51 this is me or am I doing now?
02:52 My 18 years of service, has it come to an end?
02:53 And I don't want it to come to an end but I've got to be honest to myself that I think
03:01 it has come to an end to be honest.
03:03 Yeah you're thinking, it's made you just reflect on, you know, not only the stress for yourself
03:08 but you said that your family are worried when you're at work.
03:14 He worries so much, me not replying to messages because I can't use my phone in there, even
03:19 though they know but it's natural for them.
03:22 I can't not say to them that you know you can't feel worried but that's normal as a
03:27 family.
03:28 So you're looking at potentially a whole new life set change now aren't you, moving abroad
03:33 and you know.
03:34 Yeah I'm moving abroad now, first it was like we were talking about it but I think
03:38 I've tried everything, I've tried doctors medication, I've tried therapy, I've tried
03:42 everything in my life.
03:44 So when you've got patients like this on the ward, I mean when they've got a lot of history
03:50 of attacking people, is that all kind of made clear to you in that?
03:53 Yeah it is made clear but I think that's when the investigation was done that they want
03:58 to bring in body cameras, there was none.
04:00 We only had one, when we switched the battery, the battery died straight away.
04:07 So you'd welcome that then, body cameras being brought in yeah?
04:10 They want to bring them in now, due to the recent investigation.
04:14 Also this can keep staff and patients safe.
04:17 Mind you I say that, the kind of patients that you're dealing with, I guess there's
04:21 some and there's nothing that will deter them, you know body cameras might be useful later
04:26 on but I guess it still wouldn't be a deterrence to some of the patients I should imagine because
04:35 they're not of sound mind.
04:36 They might panic to see them, so like people are hurting because they're not mentally well.
04:42 So how has it left you feeling towards him, towards just your own safety?
04:51 Towards him is always a question why I've cared for this patient but that why question
04:56 is still in my head.
04:58 So at the moment I need to learn what's about me now, have I got the strength to do stuff
05:06 if you carry on.
05:09 So I'm still learning myself now at the moment, I need to look at everything.
05:14 So you blacked out at the time of the incident, they've got this cord around your neck, what
05:19 are your memories before you blacked out, did the person say anything?
05:24 He said two conversations he mentioned, little ones that I do hear in my head still, it's
05:30 going to be fun seeing you die, it's time for you to suffer your death and then he laughed
05:34 in my face and I hear that laugh and I hear the voice.
05:37 I got scared because we know that's when mental health is not really bad when patients feel
05:44 that and I didn't want to admit it that I'm facing this, I had to because it was coming
05:50 in the way of my life so I told the doctor the truth and he's put me on medication, I'm
05:56 just giving the medication time, it's been a year, it's still working.
06:02 So that's what you're still thinking, maybe it's more than medication, maybe it's just
06:05 a whole life change and new scenery, you know what I mean, try and move away from it and
06:11 move forward with your life.
06:15 Very commendable the job you're doing to be back in it.
06:19 Is there anything you'd like to say, any changes you'd like to see, are there things that could
06:25 be brought in to make it safer for staff?
06:27 I think there's a lot of lessons to be learned by this, there will be a lot of change, I
06:32 think staff will have more courage to speak up about stuff now and take it further, it's
06:36 not ok for you to get hurt at work, it's not ok to get physically abused, verbally, it's
06:42 not ok, so they will have courage I think from this, they will have courage to go further.
06:49 And do you think the sentence that the person's had, do you feel it was a just sentence, you
06:55 know, they got what they deserved?
06:57 Now I know the public safety, the staff are safe, the main issue was hospitals for him
07:05 and the public, and they're safe and that's more than enough for me.
07:11 And do you feel, they often say that there's a lot of, with the way the system works these
07:16 days, there's a lot more of these people that are potentially putting others at risk that
07:20 are just out and about there, do you see the system works from your point of view, or is
07:27 it always, is it never going to have enough funding, it's never going to quite?
07:31 I'm not sure, I can't comment on that funding, I don't know, but all I know is that we, we're
07:36 one of the high security wards and we see patients who are very very unwell, but this
07:42 question to me about this particular patient, it's like I said, lessons to be learned.
07:48 Well we wish you all the best with moving on with your life.
07:51 Thank you.