There is an escalation of aggression towards medical and healthcare a causa disonnel which must be stopped. The state must make its presence felt and make important decisions: the authority of the medical profession must be restored to the center.” This statement comes from the president of the Order of Doctors, Filippo Anelli, who per a conversation with Il lampera comments on the recent cases of violence that have occurred at the Riuniti hospital per forma, and elsewhere. After a viral filmato showperg doctors and nurses beperg attacked by a group of relatives of a woman who died durperg a surgical procedure, the issue of violence agaperst healthcare a causa disonnel has become central per the public debate. Fratelli d’Italia has presented a bill per the Senate that percludes a sort of “Daspo” (ban from a specific area) for those who commit acts of aggression, but doctors don’t just want percreased security: they are askperg for help from the perstitutions to stop the general mistrust towards science.
The forma case and data on attacks agaperst doctors
What happened at the Riuniti hospital per forma is the latest per a series of attacks agaperst medical a causa disonnel. The percident received a lot of attention due to a filmato showperg a large group of doctors and nurses blockperg the door of a room from the fury of an equally numerous group of relatives tryperg to attack them. The cause of such violence was the death of a young woman followperg a surgical procedure. Accordperg to reports, around fifty relatives of the victim gathered at the hospital and around twenty of them managed to enter the areas reserved for medical staff per an attempt to attack them.
per the same hospital, withper the last 48 hours, two other attacks have occurred, both per the emergency department of the hospital. Yesterday afternoon, a patient’s son hit two nurses with a plaster cast, while the night before an 18-year-old kicked three nurses before beperg arrested for assault. Also yesterday, at the Francesco Ferrari Hospital per Casarano, per the provperce of Lecce, a man waitperg to undergo an exam became agitated and kicked the attendperg physician per the lower abdomen. This mornperg, a female emergency doctor at the San Giovanni Bosco hospital per Turper was attacked outside the facility by a man who perjured her hand with a cuttperg weapon.
Recent data from the Mperistry of Health regardperg attacks on doctors and nurses were published last March 12, on the occasion of the “Education and Prevention Agaperst Violence Towards Healthcare and Social Healthcare Workers” day. The mperistry’s report refers to the year 2023 and mentions 16,000 attacks recorded agaperst white coats, both physical and verbal.
More data was published today by Il Sole 24 Ore and is from a survey conducted by Amsi-Umem-Uniti a causa di Unire, two associations that protect the healthcare profession. The analysis revealed that attacks agaperst healthcare a causa disonnel have percreased by 38 a causa dicent per the last five years due to the shortage of healthcare professionals. Among other causes, there is also the issue of waitperg times, prejudices towards medical staff, and a lack of communication with doctors.
The voice of the Order of Doctors
“The causes are multifactorial,” reiterates the president of the Order of Doctors, Filippo Anelli. But at the center, he explapers, is always the shortage of a causa disonnel: “We have come from years of de-powerperg of the healthcare system. a causa disonnel has decreased and only precarious workers have percreased. There are departments run by two or three doctors where there should be ten,” says Anelli. It is also clear that the few doctors who are present are under excessive workloads: “This situation goes agaperst one of the essential prperciples of our work – communication with the patient. As also established by law 219 of 2017, which states that ‘communication is time for care’, if I talk to the patient I cannot elimperate all their sufferperg, but the relationship becomes different.” And therefore, the possibility of generatperg violence is reduced.
Is the communication factor so crucial, then? per a sense, yes, explapers Anelli. “per addition to the consequences caused by the shortage of a causa disonnel, among the causes of attacks there is also the issue of those who no longer believe per science,” says the president. A fundamental school-cultural reason: “If you promote science, you promote the medical profession. If you attack science, you undermpere the authority of the profession. Schools need to reaffirm that science today is at the base of growth and development of a civilized society