00:00 So we're here, Heath Lane, West Brom NHS facility in Kazimun, this is your place
00:05 of work and most of us are afforded with a luxury of at least safety and
00:10 security at work but in your role it's a bit different just fill us in on on what
00:13 you do here Kazim. So it's a mental health hospital and if you enjoy and love the job
00:20 you don't find it too, you don't class it as like oh we're gonna go out
00:27 we're gonna get hurt that's not that's not what we come out to think but now it's completely changed to me where...
00:33 Well yeah I mean let's just fill us in on there was a chap
00:38 sentenced yesterday just fill us in on what exactly happened to you Kazima
00:43 it's quite full on isn't it really. I got strangled in his bedroom, I was on his observation.
00:47 I got strangled and tried to fight, to breathe a lot and I just felt like my soul was leaving my body
00:56 and I blacked out. You thought this is it like yeah. Yeah and that's it, I blacked out so I don't remember anything after.
01:02 I only heard the witnesses saying what happened afterwards. So this was a patient on the ward wasn't it?
01:06 Yes. And what can we say now he's been sentenced kind of you know he got a
01:12 long record of you know incidents of attacking staff. I heard on the court there was a lot, there was over 46 counts and it shocked me like.
01:21 That's a lot isn't it. That made me quite emotional like so many people out there has been hurt by this person.
01:28 Yeah. But I was trying to save someone's life because all I did was just looked after them.
01:35 So what happened then you were just what in in the room just checking. No no he's on placed on two observations all time.
01:42 Yeah. His arm and also so we me and the male staff were put on his arm so he went to the
01:49 toilet and the male stood outside and the door shut and then obviously he ran
01:54 towards me with a cord and strangled me. And he got the cord out, was it some joggers or something?
01:58 He was already out, yeah his job was over. So he got it kind of planned you know what I mean.
02:04 Yeah. So this I mean you you know the hijab, where, hijab that's the right word isn't it?
02:12 Yeah. You've even had a bit of you know. I've been worried for the first two months I remember knowing this claustrophobic feeling still in my throat.
02:23 Yeah. Where I said okay I can't really go, I can't go to work because if someone sees me without it I'll get judged in the community.
02:30 Everything was going on through my head. Yeah. My mental health went extreme that I was put on medication for sleep.
02:36 Yeah. Still on them to be honest. Well you're back at work aren't you? I did. Which frankly is
02:40 amazing after what you've been through really. I'm more like of a person that fights, faces a fear.
02:45 Yeah. Don't let it beat you sort of thing. He was getting me the worst at home. Yeah. That I said I need to face it.
02:50 I need to know if I'm, this is me or am I done now? Yeah. My service is 18 years of service, has it come to an end?
02:58 And I don't want it to come to an end but I've got to be honest to myself that I think it has come to an end to be honest.
03:03 Yeah you're thinking it's made you just reflect on you know the not only the stress for yourself
03:08 but that you said that your family are worried when you're at work. My husband, he worries so much
03:15 me not replying to messages because I can't use my phone in there. Yeah. Even though they know
03:19 but they're still, it's natural for them. I can't, I can't not say to them that you know you can't feel
03:24 worried but that's normal. Yeah. As a family. So you're looking at potentially a whole new
03:31 life set change now aren't you? Moving abroad and you know. We do want to move abroad now.
03:35 It was, first it was like we were talking about it but I think I've tried everything. I've tried
03:39 doctors, medication, I've tried therapy, I've tried everything in my side. So when when you've got
03:44 patients like this on on the ward, I mean are you, when they've got a lot of history of attacking
03:51 people is that all kind of made clear to you in that or? Yeah it is made clear but I think that's
03:56 when the investigation was done that they want to bring in body cameras there was none. Oh yeah.
04:01 We only had one which it was when I, when we switched the battery, the battery died straight
04:05 away. So you'd welcome that then body cameras being brought in yeah? They want to bring them
04:11 in now. Yeah. Due to the recent investigation. Yeah. Hope so this can keep staff and patients
04:16 safe. Yeah. Mind you I say that, look at the kind of patients that you're dealing with,
04:21 I guess there's some and there's nothing that will deter them. You know body cameras might
04:25 be usable later on for but I guess you know it's still, it still wouldn't be a deterrence to some
04:34 of the patients I should imagine because they're not of sound mind. They might panic to see them
04:38 so like people are irritated because they're not mentally well. Yeah. So how is it, how has it left
04:43 you feeling towards towards him, towards you know just your own safety? Towards him is always a
04:52 question why I've cared for this patient but that why question is in my head. Yeah. So at the moment
04:59 I need to learn what's about me now, is have I got the strength to do stuff, carry on. Yeah. So
05:09 I'm still learning myself now at the moment like I need to look at everything. So you blacked out
05:15 at the time of the incident, they got this cord around your neck, what are your memories before
05:20 you blacked out? Did the person say anything? Yeah he said two conversations he mentioned,
05:27 little ones that I do hear in my head still. It's going to fun seeing you die, it's time for you to
05:33 suffer your death and then he laughed in my face and I hear that laugh and I hear the voice. Yeah.
05:38 I got scared because we know that that's when mental health is not really bad when patients
05:44 feel that. Yeah. And I don't want to admit it that I'm facing this, I had to because it was
05:50 coming in the way of my life. So I told the doctor the truth and he's put me on medication
05:54 to like, you know, I'm just giving the medication time, it's been a year, it's still worked as long
05:59 as I wanted to. Yeah. So that's why you're still thinking maybe it's more than medication,
06:05 maybe it's just a whole life change and a new scenery, you know what I mean, try and move away
06:10 from it and move forward with your life. Absolutely. Very commendable the job you're doing to be back
06:17 in it. Is there anything you'd like to say that you, any changes you'd like to see or, you know,
06:24 other things that could be brought in to make it safer for staff? I think there's a lot of
06:28 lessons to be learned by this. There will be a lot of change, I think staff will have more courage to
06:34 speak up about stuff now. Yeah. And take it further, it's not okay for you to get hurt at work,
06:39 it's not okay to get physically abused, verbally, it's not okay. Yeah. So they will have courage I
06:45 think from this, they will have courage to go further. And do you think that the sentence that
06:51 the person's had, do you feel it was a just sentence, you know, they got what they deserved?
06:57 Now I know the public's 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. Yeah. And do you feel that,
07:12 they often say that there's a lot of, with the way the system works these days, there's a lot
07:17 more of these people that are potentially putting others at risk that are just out and about there
07:22 and do you think, do you see the system works from your point of view or is it always, is it never
07:29 going to have enough funding, it's never going to quite? I'm not sure, I can't comment on that
07:33 funding because I don't know, but all I know is that we, we're one of the high security wards and
07:38 we see patients who are very, very unwell. But this questioned me about this particular patient,
07:44 but it's like I said, lessons to be learned. Yeah. Well, we wish you all the best with moving on
07:51 with your life. Thank you.
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