Gabriel del Pozo (CESM) and Manuel Cascos (Satse).
Just days following the massacre perpetrated by a young man in a Texas school, another individual armed with a rifle has returned to sow terror on American soil. Specifically, in a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where five people were killed by this gunman before he took his own life. The scenario that prevails in certain US territories is hardly comparable to that of Spain, where this type of event is practically unimaginable due to the rigid control of weapons. However, organizations of doctors and nurses They are denouncing an escalation of verbal and physical violence in health centers.
Both the State Confederation of Medical Unions (CESM) As the Nursing Union (Satse) agree on the need to strengthen the safety of Spanish hospitals through legal and legal mechanisms. In this sense, sources from the nursing association consider that the solution to the uptick in attacks on toilets should be channeled through a state standard “that obliges all health services” to develop “actions in terms of prevention, information and care for those attacked”.
In the words of Gabriel of the Wellgeneral secretary of CESM, although “You can’t compare the situation” going through in the US, violence in Spanish hospitals “also exists”. “And professionals are not guaranteed their safety,” she warns. In this sense, he agrees that the administration “must adopt measures so that doctors have an immediate response in case they are attacked.”
Measures to increase safety in hospitals
Neither the leaders of Satse nor those of CESM are in favor of “militarize” hospitals fproviding firearms to those responsible for security, although the latter consider that “police support would be welcome” in the vicinity of the centers.
In any case, the demands of both organizations focus on the prevention. In the case of Satse, the solution lies, among other factors, in generalizing surveillance systems 24 hours a day in corridors and waiting rooms, as well as installing sound alarm devices in consultation rooms and lighting optimally any room in the center”.
“Satse also highlights the need to provide health professionals with the data, knowledge and skills necessary to carry out its activity with greater guarantees of not suffering damage. Thus, it proposes, for example, to acquire and maintain adequate training in personal defense once morest acts of violence”, indicate sources from this association, who emphasize that the PP is currently processing a non-law proposal in the Congress of Deputies which includes some of these measures.
Along the same lines, Del Pozo advocates the installation of security arches at the entrances of health centers to prevent access with weapons or dangerous objects, as well as the intensification of sanctions once morest aggressors. The person in charge of CESM denounces that measures such as the anti-panic button do not offer guarantees to doctors, “who only have the option of alerting their colleagues.”
How many assaults on toilets occur in Spain?
These are some of the proposals from doctors and nurses in the face of the uptick in aggression. According to a study of General Council of Official Colleges of Physicians (Cgcom), solo in 2021, 612 cases of attacks on toilets were detected, 39 percent more than in the previous year. More than half, 51.1 percent, suffered from Primary Care professions.
Cgcom data reveals that 35 percent of attacks on doctors were motivated by “discrepancies with the care received”while 14 percent were due to time it took to be served. Personal discrepancies (12 percent), reports “not in accordance with their demands” (10 percent), failure to record “what was proposed by the patient” (9 percent), poor functioning of the center (6 percent) percent) and issues related to covid (5 percent) are also among the main reasons for attacks on toilets.
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