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China’s top legislature is considering a new regulation that would tackle the country’s surging doctor-patient disputes, which have led to violent confrontations targeting medical workers.

Tension in China's medical community incited calls from legislators and political advisors at the recently concluded seven-day session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee for legal action to restore the credibility and security of medical workers.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission, along with the State Council, is working on regulations aimed at preventing and tackling medical disputes, which may push forward even greater reform, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Violent attacks related to such disputes have resulted in the deaths or serious injury of many doctors and nurses. A total of 600,000 Chinese doctors signed an online petition in 2015, calling for the end of retaliatory attacks after a physician was injured by a patient in Guangdong province.

In a 2015 poll by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, some 13 percent of 12,600 doctors said they had been physically assaulted by their patients in the last year, and nearly 60 percent had been verbally abused. Doctors reported feeling disrespected, and worried about their personal security in the workplace.