LIVORNO. Forty-five health workers attacked in just one year, almost one a week. Most (23) are nurses, but not even doctors (eight) and social and health workers (seven) are spared. These are the numbers, alarming to say the least, released by the ASL Tuscany North West and relating to 2023 regarding cases of violence at the Viale Alfieri hospital and in the health districts of our city. «Unfortunately – says an operator to the Tyrrhenian, requesting anonymity – every day there is a problem, especially people who out of nowhere insult or threaten those who work. Often those who create problems are individuals with an already deficient clinical picture who make it worse by using drugs.”
The data
Forty-five, as anticipated, the attacks occurred in 2023 in Livorno, with the ASL sending 30 reports to the Carabinieri of the NAS – the Protection and Health Unit of Via Pieroni – to impose as many administrative fines ranging from one thousand to 8,000 euros. These are the fines that have been in place for a few years to combat violence against those who work in the healthcare sector, but which are applied for the more minor episodes, so to speak, which mostly concern threats or insults. For those who beat the health workers, as happened in the emergency room a year ago when the head doctor from Livorno, Luca Dallatomasina, was punched, the case goes to criminal proceedings without intermediate steps: a complaint to the police of the victim, in this case the doctor from Versilia, and the ASL Tuscany North West which is a civil party requesting substantial compensation from the patient or his violent relative. The professional categories most affected by attacks are nurses (23 times out of 45, over half), then doctors (eight), social and health workers (seven), midwives (one) and another six under the heading “Others”. ”. It is women who are attacked the most: 31 episodes compared to 14 for men, while 40 times the attacks are only verbal and 14 are physical (the owner makes 45, and not 54, because there are several promiscuous episodes of offenses and physical attacks) .
The last episode
The latest chaos that broke out in the emergency room dates back to last Monday, after several disturbances had occurred in recent months, for example when a patient decided to urinate in the middle of the corridor near the triage or when doctors and nurses at work were insulted. In this case, it was just after 5pm, two North African men in their forties got into an argument over a bicycle and continued the argument right in the hospital, the first from the hot room, where the ambulances arrive, and the second from inside the hospital. acceptance. To appease them, the intervention of security guards from the Worsp Security Group was necessary, as well as a state police squad. The police intervene very often in Viale Vittorio Alfieri, especially when the permanent police station is closed, open in the morning and almost always also in the afternoon, but never in the evening or at night.
The witness
«Verbal aggression is the most common – a hospital worker explains, requesting anonymity – often to protest against services that are not provided, in the ignorance that there are protocols that actually force the staff to make certain decisions. Then there are people who, from the outside, bring their problems into the emergency room and vent with those who work.”
Punitive expeditions
But there is no shortage of punitive expeditions either, as happened some time ago at the triage. A young man, accused of stealing a mobile phone, was followed to hospital by other people who wanted to beat him to take revenge for the alleged theft. “Where has he ended up, I want to kill him”, were the words of an individual who, in fact, was looking for the patient, indicating him as a mobile phone thief. In fact, if it had not been for the quick intervention of the security guards on duty at the hospital, the young patient would probably have been lynched. «Unfortunately, violent episodes happen almost every day, recently they have increased – explains the operator – and those who work in Viale Alfieri are very worried about this escalation». In any case, both the security personnel and the police do their utmost. With frequent and decisive interventions.
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