Crime
Sections
Highlight
Sections
Highlight
Assaults on medical professionals continue to be a serious problem in hospitals across Spain and the issue is also on the rise. Andalucía's Servicio Andaluz de Salud public health service (SAS) presented, during a meeting of the technical committee for the prevention of occupational risks that reports to the Junta, the results of the year 2024 in relation to this type of criminal act. The data reflect a very clear increase - almost 20% - in Andalucía of the attacks registered last year. In Malaga the total reached 318 cases, almost one per day.
In the analysis presented to the trade unions represented on this working group, data from 2019 was also taken into account, showing a decrease in such incidents during the Covid pandemic. The main reasons for this are given as the restrictions on public access to healthcare centres, the suspension of non-essential medical services and the social perception of healthcare professionals. The rebound effect that followed shows how the normalisation of healthcare activity and the increase in demand for care has caused a return to more attacks.
According to RIAC (the centre that electronically logs incidents of aggression in Spain's public healthcare places - health centres and hospitals alike), in 2024 there were a total of 362 physical assaults (19.4% of the total) and 1,504 non-physical assaults on medical professionals in Andalucía's public healthcare centres. Of the total number of recorded assaults, 1,866 (almost half) were in hospitals, while 52.52% occurred in primary care centres. However, the SAS reminds us that cases of physical violence or serious threats provoked by psychiatric or cognitively impaired patients are considered as an aggression, although a system has been established so that they can be filtered and receive a "differentiated treatment", both in the logging and in the subsequent actions undertaken. Thus, of the total number of recorded assaults, more than 20% (20.3%) are committed by people with mental health problems or cognitive impairment, a percentage that rises to 51.6% in the case of physical assaults.
By Andalusian province, Almeria registered 20 physical and 141 non-physical assaults, Cadiz 61 physical (282 non-physical), Cordoba at 36 physical (126 non-physical), Granada with 45 physical (149 non-physical), Huelva at six physical (60 non-physical), Jaen with 24 physical (120 non-physical), Malaga at 69 physical (249 non-physical) and Seville with 101 physical (378 non-physical).
By gender, female staff are the most assaulted (72.45% of the total). By professional profile, almost 80% of assaults are against healthcare personnel, mainly medical and nursing professionals.
A growing problem
On 30 January the Malaga medical union (SMM) reported two new cases of assaults on doctors in recent days, making a total of eight in the first month of this year, which is the worst start to the year in this regard in health centres and hospitals in Malaga province, especially when compared to the two incidents that occurred in the same month in 2024.
For this reason, the SMM once again demanded that the Junta once and for all implements public awareness campaigns and forceful measures such as the hiring of security guards and the installation of security cameras in health centres to ensure the physical integrity of their workers in the exercise of their duties, and to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, which continue to increase across Andalucía and, above all, in the province of Malaga.
For its part, the regional health ministry maintains that today it has more than 53,700 security devices of different types, including: over 4,400 security cameras, over 35,000 warning devices in consulting rooms and over 7,500 individual alarms, "a new device that seems to have a deterrent effect on the aggressor and a greater speed of action between colleagues and security guards", they state. In this regard, Malaga province has more than 6,700 security devices in use, including 592 security cameras and 179 individual alarms, according to SAS data.
The plan put in place by the Junta de Andalucía also enables agile and quick response procedures so that the person who suffers an attack, whether verbal or physical, "is not alone moments after being assaulted." In addition, psychological care is provided for as long as necessary, as well as legal advice for those who decide to file a complaint. "It should be noted that physical aggression or serious intimidation against health professionals in the exercise of their public function is considered a crime of assault by the courts of justice, and sentences ranging from 12 months to three years imprisonment have been handed down in different cases. In fact, during 2024, the SAS lawyers have assisted on 197 cases, achieving 94 convictions, 34 of them classified as an offence of assault," it states in the regional ministry's response to these concerns.
The regional Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs and the SAS condemn - as is logical - any type of aggression, whether physical or verbal, inside or outside any health centre, and they are working on the draft decree to create and regulate the observatory that monitors attacks on professionals working in Andalucía's public health system. Even so, all sectors of the medical profession have been calling for months for more forcefulness and more resources to reverse a problem that continues to increase. "The regional Ministry of Health is also preparing a sanctioning regime that will be included in the next law on health, which will be in line with the public authority status of health personnel and will include a regime of infractions and sanctions for aggressions in the health sector."
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para registrados.
Reporta un error en esta noticia
Comentar es una ventaja exclusiva para registrados
¿Ya eres registrado?
Inicia sesiónNecesitas ser suscriptor para poder votar.