Bankstown Hospital nurses Ahmad “Rashad” Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh were on shift when they had a recorded conversation with Max Veifer on social website Chatruletka.
In the video, they appeared to boast that they would kill Israeli patients if they had to treat them.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said yesterday the nurses had been stood down, and confirmed today they had not yet been officially sacked while an investigation was underway.
“While I’m the Minister of NSW Health, they will not be working in NSW hospitals ever again,” he told Today this morning.
“And I will work with other regulatory bodies, and other state and territory governments, and the Commonwealth around this country to ensure that I do whatever I can to make sure they’re never work in a health setting again.”
Park said the comments – which one of the nurses has since claimed were a joke – were “vile, disgusting behaviour”.
He said he spoke to two rabbis doing the rounds in Sydney hospitals yesterday who said the video had “rocked” the Jewish community, and he pledged to rebuild trust in NSW hospitals.
“Part of that will be investigating what role, if any, these individuals have played in other people’s care and whether there has been any adverse outcomes that may be attributable to that,” he said.
“Now, that’s not what we’ve identified so far, but we are very early on, and I need to get to the bottom of this to make sure that, as the Health Minister, I can assure the Jewish community and all of the community that they should have trust and confidence to feel safe and get the care they need when they enter any one of our hospitals in NSW.”
He said the trust in Australia’s healthcare system had been “broken” and had to be regained, but that the “vast majority” of health workers were doing “incredible” work to deliver the best care possible around the state.
“But if there needs to be changes, if we have a cultural issue or challenge in certain hospitals, then we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
“We’re going to address it, we’re going to call it out, and we’re going to make sure we do everything we can to ensure every person in our community has confidence and faith when they go to their local hospital.”
Police are investigating the issue, while Nadir yesterday issued an apology through his lawyer.
The lawyer, Mohamad Sakr, said his client was “very emotional”.
“My client sends a very sincere apology to not only that individual but to the Jewish community as a whole,” Sakr said.
“He understands what has happened, he’s trying to make amends for what has happened.
“He has never appeared before the courts in relation to any criminal matters, he is a person of prior good character it is unfortunate to find himself in a situation like this.
“He is very emotional, I’ve suggested he seek some treatment.
”He has apologised for the action, for his words.”
