Wary China medics to wear helmets, carry truncheons
21 May 2007 05:57:41 GMT Source: Reuters
BEIJING, May 21 (Reuters) - Pass the scalpel, nurse. Now the truncheon. Doctors and nurses at a hospital in eastern China have told its administrators that they will use police truncheons and wear helmets to protect themselves from violent attacks by angry patients, state media said on Monday. Staff at No. 1 People's Hospital in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, also asked for 24-hour security guards and cameras after a spate of assaults that led to injuries and a number of resignations, the Beijing Youth Daily said. "Until effective measures are taken to ensure their protection, doctors and nurses will attend work with helmets and police truncheons for use in self defence," the paper quoted a staff notice given to the hospital's directors as saying. Medical staff were suffering frequent attacks at work from patients and their relatives, ranging from cursing and death threats to serious beatings, the paper said. Disputes between patients and hospitals are common in China, where market reforms of the 1980s ended cradle-to-grave healthcare and where lax supervision has led to overcharging, bogus treatments and corruption. The health ministry recorded about 10,000 attacks on hospital staff stemming from patient disputes last year, the China Daily reported. In December, doctors and nurses at Shanxia hospital in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, were forced to wear hard hats on their rounds after being jostled and spat at for days by relatives seeking compensation over a patient's death. China's health ministry last week called for police to patrol Chinese hospitals to protect staff and ensure a "harmonious" medical environment. "Harmonious society" is a catchphrase of President Hu Jintao for easing social tensions fuelled by corruption and a widening wealth gap between rich and poor.
