Experts: Violence against medical staff should be prevented

Tran Van Thuan, Director of the National Cancer
Hospital, made the statement at an online discussion on stopping violence
against doctors and medical staff held recently in Hanoi.

Statistics from the showed
that as many as 22 were recorded between 2010
to 2017. Most of the cases occurred at provincial-level hospitals (60 percent)
and 70 percent of the assault victims were doctors.

There were three serious cases in the first five
months of 2018. In the latest case, a doctor at Saint Paul Hospital sustained
multiple injuries to the face while treating a 7-year-old boy.

Earlier in February, two obstetricians in Yen Bai
province were physically abused by a husband and 10 others after the medical
workers, who were delivering his baby, asked him not to climb on the window
railing to film the birth.

Violence against medical staff occurred in many
countries around the world, including in developed ones, he said.

According to the World Health Organisation, 8 to
38 percent of health workers have been abused in the workplace.

A recent study published by Medscape in the
United States found that 59 percent of doctors interviewed had been verbally
abused. Another Indian study reports that up to 75 percent of public health
doctors have been humiliated, 57 percent have been threatened and 12 percent
have been assaulted.

Thuan said the reasons for the attacks ranged
from abnormal behaviors of people under the influence of alcohol or other kinds
of stimulants, while some argued that staff were not communicating reasonably
with patients.

Participants at the discussion said that there
were many reasons leading to violence, such as social moral degradation and
agitation of some people against health workers. The legal framework was not
strict enough and communication problems between health workers and patients
were also to be blamed, they said.

To stop violence against medical staff at
hospitals, the participants suggested strengthening the coordination between
public security units to ensure security and order at hospitals. It was
necessary to review and install cameras as well as emergency alarm systems. A
task force should be set up to deal with unexpected incidents.

They proposed that medical workers should be
educated on how to identify and prevent potential violent situations and
recommendations should be provided so that they can protect themselves and
avoid detrimental impacts on their health and wellbeing.

The participants supported the proposal by the
Ministry of Health to supplement the responsibility of patients under medical
examination and treatment services, with penalties to deal with acts of
infringement and threatening towards health workers while performing their
tasks under the Law on Examination and Treatment.

They also agreed on the need to strengthen
dissemination of information to promote inter-agency coordination between the
Government, police, and other agencies; the role and participation of people
and patients in the detection of violence, as well as denouncing and preventing
acts of violence promptly.-VNS/VNA