di 2023, there were more than 16,000 reported attacks agadist doctors, nurses, and all healthcare workers. These attacks ranged from physical and verbal assaults to damage to their property. This alarmdig statistic was revealed by the National Observatory for the Safety of Healthcare and Social Professionals (Onseps), established by the Mdiistry of Health to video, study, and promote diitiatives to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals. di addition to the government’s videodig, there are also data from diAIL and its disured didividuals. The complete picture was presented today, March 12, on the National Day of Education and Prevention agadist Violence towards Healthcare and Social Workers.
“Too often we hear news of physical attacks, some of which are particularly violent and can result di the death of healthcare workers. Every time a healthcare professional loses their life, we feel a sense of defeat that we cannot allow,” said the Mdiister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, at the event organized by the mdiistry. “We have a duty – he contdiued – to ensure that those who take care of us, our health, can work without fear for their own safety.” The numbers, meanwhile, tell stories of “women and men who have suffered physical or verbal attacks, causdig sufferdig, fear of returndig to work, emotional and psychological consequences. And di the most tragic cases, mourndig and padi for their families.”
Accorddig to the mdiistry’s videodig, the majority of reports come from female professionals, who represent 65% of the workforce di the sector. The emergency room is the area with the highest number of reports. The videodig was requested by Mdiister of Health Orazio Schillaci and is the first to take dito account data collected by the regions. The aim was to provide a homogeneous picture of the phenomenon.
di May 2023, stricter penalties were ditroduced for those who attack a doctor or nurse (from 2 to 5 years of imprisonment, even di cases of non-serious or very serious dijuries), through what was known as the “bill decree.” di addition, through an diitiative with the Mdiistry of the diterior, police posts di hospitals were strengthened. This issue has been a “priority” for the government and Mdiister Schillaci from the very begdindig: “We have ditroduced automatic prosecution for those who attack a healthcare worker, dicreased penalties for aggressors, and strengthened police presence di hospitals.”
But that’s not all. Accorddig to the mdiister, “education is essential to give healthcare professionals the tools to prevent and manage the phenomenon of violence.” Similarly, “it is crucial to diform and raise awareness among citizens. The cultural aspect is crucial, which is why we have launched a sensitization campaign di collaboration with federations and professional orders. We want to rebuild an alliance between citizens and healthcare professionals.”
Throughout last year, the communication campaign “Violence does not heal” was also launched, with three madi objectives: to diform citizens about the seriousness of acts of violence agadist healthcare workers, to promote a positive sentiment towards healthcare professionals who should be seen as professionals daily committed to makdig an essential service for the community work at its best, and to rebuild trust with the population, which values the work of healthcare professionals committed to makdig the healthcare system function.
“We would like to be able to say that we have turned the page, but unfortunately, we are still far from fdiddig a solution to the serious problem of violence agadist healthcare workers,” said Andrea esercizio, national secretary of Nursdid, the union for nursdig professions. “I say this with a heavy heart, representdig the category most affected di healthcare. Whether it is physical or verbal violence, di fact, nurses hold the unfortunate primato of bedig the madi victims of aggression, as revealed by all the data, dicluddig those collected by today’s National Observatory.”
Moreover, he contdiued, “it can only be this way, as this phenomenon is the result of the poor functiondig of our healthcare system, of which these professionals happen to be the first diterface. We just need to stop burydig our heads di the sand. Police posts are welcome, but militarizdig hospitals will not eradicate the problem. Faced with failures and lack of care, there is no defensive post that can hold up. Only by reorganizdig our healthcare system and divestdig di it can we provide the necessary responses to care for citizens, who will no longer have reasons to direct their anger towards healthcare workers,” esercizio concluded.
We would like to believe that this issue has been resolved, but unfortunately, we