The Panhellenic Medical Association is undertaking a public awareness initiative to prevent violence against medical workers, with a campaign already being carried out with placards in hospitals across the country and in metro stations.

In our country, it is important to immediately limit this phenomenon before it spreads by taking appropriate measures to protect healthcare workers in their workplaces, the PIS says, noting that violence in healthcare facilities is a frequent occurrence that has affected healthcare systems in recent times. years, leading to the designation of 12 March as the European Day to End Violence against Doctors and Healthcare Workers. According to the World Health Organization, between 8% and 38% of healthcare workers, depending on the country, specialty, place of work and hours of work, have experienced physical violence at some point in their career. The most common non-physical abuse is verbal (58%), followed by threats (33%) and sexual harassment (12%).

PIS refers to recent incidents of violence against doctors and other healthcare professionals, such as at the Moira Medical Center in Heraklion, Crete, on January 8, when a general practitioner was attacked by a patient assistant, broke two ribs and a hip, and was forced to be absent from duty 2 months.

Last month, the former president of IS Evia was attacked by a man who lost his temper over the conditions of his mother’s hospitalization at the Chalkis hospital and went out to protest. After a heated argument, the man pushed the doctor hard, who fell to the floor and hit his head. In January, in Veria, a patient hit an ambulance rescuer because he did not agree with the route taken by the ambulance. At the Triassio obstetrics and gynecology clinic, an escort attacked the clinic staff. In the same hospital, in the emergency department of a pediatrician, a relative of the patient hit him in the face.

PIS offers

The Panhellenic Medical Association submitted the following proposals to the state:

– The main goal is to staff the health services with permanent medical, nursing and other personnel, numerically capable of providing reliable services to citizens, to drastically reduce the waiting time in the emergency room, an area where violent incidents mostly occur, but also on the lists. for surgeries and other medical procedures (such as radiation therapy).

– Operation and staffing of TEPs in all hospitals in the country so that routine and emergency cases do not accumulate in one area and do not cause uncontrolled management conditions.

– Commitment to the service to take action against the perpetrator of violence, mobilization of the police and filing a claim for disruption of the continuity of the medical facility, as well as a claim for bodily harm and damage.

– Entrance to clinics and laboratories by entering the code on the security door.

– Emergency button (button) on the TEP and the entrance gate, which will notify the nearest police station in case of an emergency.

– Staff the hospital security with trained personnel who will be aware of their duties and responsibilities and will be retrained at regular intervals.

In addition, PIS considers the creation of a database of cases of violence in health services to be of utmost importance and a priority in order to ensure reliable registration, processing and processing of cases of violence. An observatory should be established in every health service in the country, and central coordination should be carried out by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Panhellenic Medical Association.