Male Nurse Held Over Suspected Sex Assault

A 35-year-old male nurse at the Tuen Mun Hospital has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old female patient.

The patient was waiting after undergoing a scan when the alleged incident happened. She then complained to the hospital authorities and they called the police.

The arrested man is not a regular employee of the hospital, but a temporary nurse hired from an agency.

Commenting on the incident on Tuesday, Health Secretary Sophia Chan assured the public that there's a mechanism in place to monitor the conduct of temporary nurses.

She said some public hospitals had to outsource their work to cope with the winter flu season. But she said all registered nurses are regulated by relevant laws, and there's a committee under the Nursing Council which handles cases of professional misconduct or complaints filed against nurses.

She also said the Hospital Authority will make sure the nurses they hire will be up to standard and that it will monitor them using the same standard applied to government staff.