Jason Ketley: Rat Attack in Hospital Bed
Jason Ketley, 42, has been treated for injuries resulting from a rat attack that took place while he was a patient at a hospital in Surrey.
According to reports, Ketley suffers from bi-polar disorder and is a resident at a special unit at St. Ebba's hospital in Surrey. He complained of being bitten by a rat, but hospital staff told him it was merely a mouse and dismissed his complaint. It wasn't until nurses saw him wandering the halls with a rat gripping his neck that they took him seriously.
The staff immediately knocked the rat off Ketley's neck and killed it. He was moved to Epsom General Hospital where he is being treated for bites and given vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, and polio, which rats may carry. According to his mother, Pat Boardman, "He was very scared and the staff had to show him they had killed the rat to prove it could no longer hurt him."
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Boardman has filed a complaint against the Surrey and Borders Partnership Foundation Trust, which runs the Surrey hospital where the attack occurred.
"I was horrified," she told reporters. "He was quite heavily sedated and wasn't able to defend himself. He was completely helpless and terrified. It's a disgrace."
Jo Young, Director of Quality and Nursing for the Surrey and Borders Partnership Foundation Trust has issued the following statement regarding the incident. "The events described here are genuinely shocking, and I would like to reassure Mrs. Boardman that we are taking her concerns extremely seriously. This is why we have logged the events as a serious incident and are conducting a detailed investigation."
"We take our responsibility for caring for vulnerable people very seriously, and we will act on any findings from our investigation to ensure our high standards of care and support are maintained," Young continued.
This is not the first incident of rat attacks in hospitals this year. In Jan., a 70-year-old paralyzed man was attacked by rats that chewed on his lips, nose, and ears. Family members found him in deplorable condition in the Mathura Das Hospital. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, his ventilator tube was also damaged due to the rat bites.
