Australian nurses sacked over 'Genital Friday Club'

Nurses have been sacked from a nursing home for allegedly depriving a dying man of food and photographing residents' genitals in a game called the "Genital Friday Club". One of New South Wales' top nursing homes, William Cape Gardens, on the Central Coast, ran an independent investigation into the atrocities before sacking two nurses, allegedly the ringleaders, on February 16.

A third nurse was suspended and has since been reinstated, while a fourth nurse resigned. The horrific treatment at William Cape includes claims that three nurses told an elderly woman with dementia that her husband was having an affair with her best friend while she was in care. A whistleblower said that when food was withheld from an elderly man, the nurse allegedly said: "He was going to die anyway and this way it would make it quicker."



Staff were forced to sign confidentiality agreements over the scandal. The whistleblower said the "Genital Friday Club" had been going on "for some months and was known of by quite a few members of staff". A second staff member said at least one nurse took photographs of elderly residents' private parts on an iPhone and asked colleagues to guess who they belonged to.

William Cape's spokesman Tim Allerton, from a public relations firm, said it was unclear how many residents had their genitals photographed in the game. He said relatives of a female and male resident were given a full explanation and apology, which they accepted.