Guidelines aim to reduce attacks on hospital staff

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Guidelines aim to reduce attacks on hospital staff

By Cai Wenjun (Shanghai Daily) 08:23, October 23, 2013

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Seven people died and 28 were injured in 11 of the most serious attacks on medical staff in China last year, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said yesterday.

The injured included 11 patients and those accompanying them, 16 medical staff and one security guard.

The attacks took place in eight municipalities and provinces — including Beijing and Heilongjiang Province.

These cases reveal weaknesses in hospital security and measures must be taken to protect staff, said the commission, which teamed up with the Ministry of Public Security to issue guidelines on hospital’s security.

These include: sufficient numbers of security guards — one guard for every 33 medical staff on a shift; security check machines looking for items such as knives; security doors on areas such as data centers and blood and drugs storage rooms; high tech alarms; and better mechanisms for handling complaints.

Meanwhile, on Monday in the southern Guangdong Province, three doctors were assaulted at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, allegedly by family members of an elderly patient who died there that morning.

Afterwards, doctors at the hospital wrote on mobile messaging service WeChat, calling for respect for medical staff and urging the government to impose severe punishments on offenders and protect the safety of medical staff.

“It’s time for the government to face up to and raise public awareness about this problem. If not, there is no future for China’s health industry,” the doctors warned.

（Editor：HuangJin、Gao Yinan）