He did not agree with the decisions that the doctor who was treating his relative was making, so he opted for violence: he threw the doctor, who is pregnant, to the ground and tried to punch her, something that her husband prevented, who also He works as a doctor at the same Virgen de la Victoria University Clinical Hospital in the capital of Malaga where the event took place.
This new attack has exhausted the patience of the Málaga Medical Union (SMM), from where a concentration has already been called for next August 18 at the gates of the hospital, to demand more protection from medical personnel and to condemn, once more, “the execrable aggression” to the professional.
At the moment, both the woman and her baby are well, as the union has announced through a statement from which it has also been reported that the doctor has already reported the facts to the Police.
The attack occurred on August 14 when one of the three relatives who accompanied the patient, who were violating the established protocol of only one companion per patient, did not agree with the medical decisions made by the doctor.
Inside the facilities, two security guards plus the husband of the victim tried to calm the situation, even the victim’s partner managed to prevent the attacker from punching the woman, but the situation became complicated when ten other people entered They were in the medical compound to participate in the attack. “They entered to start a fight, a whole mess at the hospital access control, and generating a despicable and inappropriate moment for a space like this, which culminated in the escape of the cowards,” says the SMM.
This event is added to another violent episode that occurred in the same hospital a day before. In this case, it was a drunk patient who caused material damage (he broke a computer and a screen) in the emergency room where he was being treated by two doctors.
The attacks “continue to be a constant and harsh reality in the health centers and hospitals of Malaga, especially this summer,” says the union, which highlights that “the Virgen de la Victoria Hospital, and above all, in the service area of emergencies, this situation already reaches limits in which it has not measured, anything goes ”. For this reason, it requires the management that “if you do not have your own capacity and the financial means to improve and preserve the safety of all the professionals in your center, immediately request help from the Police or the health authorities, accomplices in this negligence that It has been taking place for years,” he points out, “a scenario that entails malicious discrimination with respect to other hospitals in the province that do have better and effective security measures.”
It is the Clinic where the most attacks on doctors are recorded, especially on these dates when Malaga celebrates its fair and this center assumes the health coverage of the area where this party takes place. For this reason, the hospital management has established a plan to reinforce surveillance this week to avoid conflicts, but it has turned out to be insufficient to put an end to this type of violent attitude.
Although Málaga has more than 5,500 security elements of different types in its hospital centers (557 security cameras, 1,390 office bells, 139 offices communicated with intercoms, 1,127 office telephones, 373 alternative exits and 1,937 workstation terminals in consultations with anti-panic software installed), it continues to be one of the provinces where the most attacks on physicians are committed.
According to data extracted from a study carried out by the Observatory against Aggressions of the General Council of Medical Colleges (CGCOM), only in 2022, 117 attacks on doctors were reported, 22 of which took place in health centers in Malaga, only below the 25 attacks committed in Cádiz. Andalusia occupies second place in this unpleasant ranking, only behind Catalonia, where 380 attacks were registered.
The CGCOM collected a total of 843 attacks last year, 231 more than the previous year, which is 38% more than in 2021, one of the figures that breaks the historical record for attacks on the medical profession. The total figure since 2010 amounts to 6,492 attacks.
It is in Primary Care where the most cases are concentrated (49%), followed by hospitals (16%), and female doctors (59.8%) are the most affected compared to their male colleagues (40.2%). The target of these darts usually points to doctors under 35 years of age, who suffer 29.4% of these violent behaviors, and the attacks usually take place in their vast majority (86.6%) in public centers compared to private ones ( 14.4%).
Threats and coercion are usually the type of attacks that the medical staff suffer the most (45%), followed by insults and harassment (42%), while 13% were injuries. The main cause of these cases is the discrepancy with the medical care received (449.1%), and the attacks come mainly from scheduled patients (37%), followed by unscheduled ones (36%) and companions (26% ). It is noteworthy that, by age group, 52.3% of the aggressors are between 40 and 60 years old (more than half of the attackers are women) and 47.7% are under 40 years of age (more than half of the attackers are women). the attackers are men).
