TikTok video showing Santa Barbara clinic staff mocking patients stirs anger

A bunch of healthcare staff in Santa Barbara have been fired on Wednesday after a video apparently displaying sufferers’ bodily fluids was posted on TikTok, in line with their employer.

The now-deleted publish, made by a former worker at Sansum Clinic — a nonprofit outpatient care facility owned by Sutter Well being — confirmed eight staff mocking what gave the impression to be the bodily fluid of sufferers on examination tables with the on-screen caption, “Are sufferers allowed to go away you guys presents?” and “Ensure you go away your healthcare staff candy presents like these!” In a single picture, the medical workers are seen pointing and smiling at a spot with their thumbs up. The caption reads, “Guess the substance!”

A spokesperson for Sacramento-based well being system Sutter Well being mentioned that, though the unique poster was not an worker on the time the video was posted, others who appeared in it had been terminated.

“This unacceptable conduct is an outright violation of our insurance policies, reveals a scarcity of respect for our sufferers and won’t be tolerated,” the corporate mentioned in a press release shared with The Instances.

The video unfold over the weekend on platforms together with X, Instagram and Reddit, sparking an outpouring of anger amongst commenters alongside the way in which.

“No place for shaming the affected person in medication,” one consumer on Reddit wrote.

“My query is what’s the tradition of your clinic as a result of why did this many workers really feel snug collaborating on this?” one other consumer inquired on Instagram.

In line with a web based assertion from Sansum Clinic, officers have been notified of the publish by involved sufferers and instantly performed a overview of the video.

“Inside 24 hours of changing into conscious of the posts, we positioned the staff on administrative go away, and inside one other 24 hours, we terminated these concerned,” the well being system posted.

The video was deleted quickly after it was posted as soon as commenters questioned the contributors’ ethics. However it was reposted by a number of different accounts and disseminated additional by “stitches” of people reacting to the publish on TikTok and different platforms.

A Sansum spokesperson mentioned the clinic remained steadfastly dedicated to affected person privateness and dignity.

“We count on all workforce members to stay our patients-first mission and uphold the best requirements of compassion, professionalism and respect,” he mentioned. “We’re utilizing this inappropriate incident to strengthen our complete insurance policies with all our workforce members throughout the group.”