Discussing the incident, Dr. Ha Anh Duc - Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health) - said that among the medical staff of Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital who were attacked, nurse Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang was the most seriously injured, with two serious injuries in the coronary artery and collarbone.
"Fortunately, nurse Trang was promptly transferred to Nghe An General Hospital for emergency treatment, so her health condition is now basically stable. The other victims were mainly software injuries, and none of them threatened their lives, Mr. Ha Anh Duc informed.
Assault on medical staff increases
Recently, there have been consecutive incidents of violence and attacks on medical staff at many medical examination and treatment facilities, causing concerns about safety in the medical environment. Faced with this situation, Dr. Ha Anh Duc believes that there are many causes, including both subjective and objective factors.
Every year, the whole country has about 200 million outpatients, there are large hospitals that visit nearly ten thousand people every day, the work pressure of medical staff is huge. However, the health sector is a service provider, so regardless, health workers need to be skillful, have an attitude suitable for patients and their families, and need to be trained in communication skills.
According to Dr. Ha Anh Duc, the second cause comes from the patient's family. When a loved one is hospitalized, anxiety and stress can easily make them lose their calmness, get angry and can lead to excessive behavior.
In reality, most cases of violence in hospitals often occur in the Emergency Department and Resuscitation Department - where the patient's condition is critical and life is at risk, causing family members' emotions to flare up easily.
In addition, Mr. Duc also pointed out limitations in ensuring security and order at many medical facilities. Although the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Security have signed coordination regulations for more than 10 years, many hospitals have not yet effectively implemented immediate response measures, leading to passiveness when incidents occur.
For any reason, assaulting medical staff while they are on duty is completely unacceptable, Mr. Ha Anh Duc emphasized.
Tightening hospital security
Informing about solutions in the coming time, the Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management said that this agency will continue to direct hospitals to synchronously deploy many measures to ensure the safety of medical staff and patients.
Hospitals will be required to promote training, education on communication skills and attitude of medical staff towards patients and their families; innovate the model of ensuring security and order at the grassroots level, and strengthen coordination between hospital security forces and local police.
In addition, the health sector will innovate hospital governance methods, increase the application of information technology, promote digital transformation to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment and reduce the pressure on health care staff. In addition, investing in and upgrading facilities and medical equipment is also considered an important solution to build a safer, more modern and more friendly working environment.
"We will also coordinate more closely with local authorities, especially the police, to handle cases in a timely and deterrent manner" - the Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management emphasized.
Previously, on October 23, at Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, a serious attack occurred when subject B.V.V. (29 years old) suddenly used a fruit knife to attack many patients' families and medical staff.
The subject broke into room 305, Neonatal Department, causing injuries to a patient's family member and nurse Nguyen Thi Nhung. After that, the subject continued to pick up the two newborns and intended to throw them through the window, but luckily the patient's family stopped them in time. When medical staff rushed in to intervene, V. used a knife to chase and attack many people.
The incident injured 7 people, including 3 nurses, 2 patients' relatives and 2 newborns, causing public concern about the safety of the hospital environment.
On October 24, leaders of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management - Ministry of Health visited the health status of patients and nurses injured in the attack.
