A doctor was held up at gunpoint while returning to the medics’ residential quarters after completing a shift at a public hospital in Mpumalanga.

The SA Medical Association (Sama) said the attack on the doctor took place at the Mapulaneng Hospital in Bushbuckridge on Tuesday night.

“She was hijacked, robbed at gunpoint and the perpetrators attempted to rape her.

“The doctor is, rightly, extremely traumatised by this experience,” said Sama.

This incident follows the killing of a nurse at Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng earlier this month.

“Sama is concerned that doctors working in public sector hospitals are living and working in constant fear and, in general, feel unsafe within their working environments,” said the association.

Sama, which has raised the issue of safety for medics on several occasions, has proposed that stringent security measures be implemented for the protection of healthcare workers and patients.

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