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Insults on k .. and ch …, beatings, punctured tires, harassment with text messages – most doctors know it from an autopsy. Soon the impunity of patients will end. Violation of inviolability or insult will be prosecuted ex officio and severely punished, and in the case of an active attack, up to 12 years in prison.
- Aggression towards doctors is an everyday reality of the Polish health service
- Doctors want protection from patient frustration. Therefore, the ministry intends to grant them the status of a public official
- It will also be easier to prosecute patients who insult doctors on the Internet
Dr. Piotr Roczniak, a specialist in emergency medicine, tells us: we are going by ambulance to a festival participant who has stopped breathing. – How long are you waiting for? – we hear in greeting. We start intubation, which is difficult because the patient is drunk and may vomit. The victim’s companion enters the ambulance and calls us to bandits and murderers. Pushed out of the ambulance, he kicks at it, and then in his car he chases us all the way to the hospital. There he catches me up and hits me.
It happened in a hospital in the Lublin province. Many doctors all over Poland had similar stories.
Soon the impunity of patients is to end
A physician working in the public health service will enjoy the protection that public officials enjoy while the services are being rendered. The introduction of such a provision has been demanded by the medical self-government for years, but only the residents won with their protest. In paragraph 15 of the signed agreement, the Minister of Health undertook to bring about the change. What does this mean in practice? An attack on an officer is ex officio prosecuted by the police and stricter sanctions are imposed on him. For example, for violation of inviolability – imprisonment up to 3 years (normally – up to a year).
The problem is serious
– There is no duty at the HED to prevent some form of aggression – says Andrzej Kużawczyk, spokesman for the rights of the doctor of the District Medical Chamber in Warsaw. And he adds: beatings, rattles, calling names are also common in the emergency room and in family doctor’s offices. – Anyone can visit the doctor in the clinic or the emergency room. Bodyguards are older men, they will not cope with a well-built bully. And before the police show up, the perpetrator runs away. There is also no monitoring that would be evidence when the case is on the list.
A few days ago, a surgeon was beaten in the Emergency Department of one of the hospitals in Warsaw. A patient was brought to duty with a head wound that he had suffered during a fight. The wounded man was not the only one affected, the doctor gave him success one by one. The injured man’s companion lost his patience, threw the doctor against the wardrobe and struck a few blows with his fist. Blood spilled, it ended with a forensic examination and a few days’ sick leave from the surgeon.
In seeking justice, a doctor would have to bring a civil action against the aggressor, but doctors have neither the time nor the will to judge. As the problem is widespread, medical ombudsmen have been appointed at the District Medical Chambers, who apply to the court on their behalf.
Andrzej Kużawczyk, spokesman for the rights of the doctor of the Regional Medical Chamber in Warsaw admits that sentences are rarely passed: – Cases take a long time, end differently, so the injured doctors often wave their hands on the way and give up. It is a waste of time and health. They just pray that it won’t happen to them again.
But, interestingly, the doctors themselves are not particularly surprised by the upset patients. – Each HED is a labyrinth of patients. A few hours wait for the patient to see the doctor. Can the family get upset? Maybe. And then the attacks begin – verbal or physical.
Dr. Roczniak, who is on duty at the HED, is of a similar opinion and admits that people are already irritated because they wait many hours. – A moment ago, a colleague from internal medicine reported to me that he had not yet seen eight patients who were already waiting. What if one of them has a drooping corner of the mouth that indicates a stroke? He should have thrombolytic treatment as soon as possible. Similarly, in a heart attack – if the patient waits, the tissues will die – says Dr. Roczniak.
But the next day, HED duty will be even more difficult, because it has not been fully staffed – there will be two fewer internists. – There are no willing doctors because working conditions are very difficult. The doctor looks after the patient, and the ambulance is already bringing him the next one. The doctor would like to take the patient to the hospital, but there is no possibility, because there are at least 50 internal medicine beds in the city, so she constantly refuses. Patients are tired of such treatment. They cannot set fire to the central committee of the party because it is no longer there. So they take out on us.
But will the new type of legal protection help doctors and patients?
Andrzej Kużawczyk believes that granting the status of an officer will only partially restrain patients from aggression. – The status of an officer would apply only in a hospital and it happens that the patient and his companions come after and deal with the doctor after the shift – he explains.
Theoretically, it will also be easier to prosecute patients who insult a doctor on the Internet.
– Even today, an orthopedist from a well-known center near Warsaw came forward. He examined the patient’s injured knee, which caused him pain. He immediately wrote about the dramatic story on Facebook, adding that the doctor was doing it. He gave a bad opinion on a well-known portal that reviews doctors. The doctor has a private office, he is afraid that he will lose his good reputation – says Dr. Kużawczyk.
The spokesman intervenes, but the portals do not remove the opinion. Sometimes doctors break down, more and more of them suffer from burnout. When the doctor becomes an officer, such insults will have to be prosecuted ex officio by the police (an act threatened by up to one year in prison).
Patients have many ways to poison the doctor’s life
Besides, says spokesman Kużawczyk, patients have many other ways to poison a doctor’s life. They write complaints to the police and to the doctors’ professional liability ombudsman. Bullying text messages. They can damage the car. They call the police that the doctor is drunk while he is tired and looks dull or even staggers. When they leave the office, they scare his patients away, loudly announcing that the doctor is hopeless, he knows nothing.
Also, Dr. Roczniak does not believe that the status of an officer will solve the problem. – There is a whole group of regulars who consciously attack the doctor. They hope that they will receive a different punishment and will be sent to prison for the winter, where they will be provided with warmth, food, as well as health and financial improvement, because they are entitled to a dentist or any other specialist for free.
In his opinion, however, becoming a physician with the status of an officer is a step in the right direction. According to Dr. Roczniak, this should apply to everyone working with patients, even registrars. He gives an example from the Lublin region, when a drunk patient smashed the glass in the registration. The glass hurt the recorder badly, hitting the heart.
Last year, the study of patients’ aggression was carried out by the District Medical Chamber in Gdańsk. The report found that two-thirds of physicians had personally experienced inappropriate behavior by patients at least once in the past twelve months, ranging from inappropriate remarks to physical aggression. Every fourth doctor has experienced harassment or blackmail at least once a year. Violations of inviolability or physical attack – every tenth.