2024-09-18 10:23:00
Health Minister Schillaci on violence in hospitals: “We must intervene immediately. Filters at entrances and cameras are other useful tools”
From the top to Palazzo Chigi on the “urgent adoption of measures to combat violent actions against healthcare facilities and personnel”, Orazio Schillaci came out with the certainty that action will be taken in a “short time”. The government’s will is to “intervene immediately. We are evaluating what is the fastest way to introduce deferred arrest also for perpetrators of violence against operators”, states the Minister of Health after having agreed a plan of measures with the undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Alfredo Mantovano and colleagues from the Executive Luca Ciriani (Relations with Parliament, from him the hypothesis of an amendment to the Omnibus decree), Carlo Nordio (Justice) e Matteo Piantedosi (Internal).
Yesterday the a Cagliari a general practitioner, slapped by a patient tired from waiting, suffered damage to his eardrum. The other evening at Bolzano a 57-year-old stabbed a white coat in the back. Minister, do we need transversal political will? “The issue is close to everyone’s heart. I don’t think we will have difficulty finding a parliamentary agreement. The situation is unsustainable and we want to stop the escalation of aggression”, he replies Schillaci in an interview with ‘Corriere della Sera’. Deferred flagrancy consists in the arrest of the perpetrator of the crime 48 hours after the episode if in possession of video and photo testimonies. Hospitals like stadiums? “Unfortunately we have reached this point. Filters at entrances and cameras are other useful tools – he recalls – And a cultural change that does not only concern healthcare. Just look at what happens in schools, where teachers are beaten up. The ones involved here are professionals who seek to protect the health of citizens”.
Is the deteriorated doctor-patient relationship one of the causes? “Patients mistakenly think, misled by what they read on the Internet, that there are treatments for all pathologies and that one cannot die in hospital. Unfortunately this is not the case – warns the minister – Citizens have expectations that are higher than reality but doctors must also contribute in trying to recover the dialogue”. But doctors and nurses are few and there isn’t much time to dedicate to dialogue. “It’s true. In the next budget law there will be a three-year plan for the hiring of health workers. I have no illusions – he clarifies – that the threat of deferred arrest is enough to eliminate the phenomenon. We are working on staff training and on awareness campaigns for citizens”.
More places than police in the emergency room? “In one year the garrisons increased from 126 to 198 Plant yourself he committed to increasing them. The number of agents rose from 299 to 432. A strong deterrent, certainly. But if it happens like in Pescara and Foggia, where 40 people attacked the emergency room, even these measures may prove insufficient”, he replies Schillaci. Doctors are afraid and urgently ask for the regulatory redefinition of medical negligence. At what stage is the work of the Ministry of Justice? “Nordio he assured me that it is being concluded and will be ready by 31 December 2024, when the extension of the criminal shield expires. The behavior of doctors today is conditioned by the risk of being reported.”
They accuse him of not knowing enough about the reality of hospitals and of making few visits to the area. “I worked in a hospital for 40 years, I know what I’m talking about. I don’t go around cutting ribbons and making useless propaganda”, he comments. Why does violence only spread in public structures and not in private ones? “You say? I wouldn’t be so sure. When the patient pays he is even less willing to accept facts of alleged medical malpractice”, he concludes.
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