It happened again. An attack against a doctor from the Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment Service (SPDC) department inside the Santa Chiara hospital in Pisa. The episode occurred on Wednesday evening, around 7pm, on the same day that Gianluca Paul Seung, the 36-year-old from Torre del Lago accused of the murder of Dr. Barbara Capovani, head of that same psychiatry department, was in court in Pisa for a spontaneous declaration (later not made by his decision). The story involved a relative of a hospitalized patient, who for days had been complaining to the health workers about the treatment meted out to her family member. According to what emerged, her complaints had already been reported to the North-West Local Health Authority.
On Wednesday, the woman showed up at the ward accompanied by a man unknown to the doctors, who started the attack. Before her, he railed against the doctor, insulting her with phrases such as: “You’re out of your mind” and “Who do you think you are?”. Then he moved on to her, slapping the psychiatrist on duty, who fortunately managed to block the blow with her arm. The other doctors and nurses present immediately intervened to stop the attacker, who continued to address them with threatening phrases: “Now I’ll beat you too”. The Pisa carabinieri then intervened on the spot, identifying and removing the man from the hospital, while the doctor filed a complaint. A further alarm signal for an already severely tested department. Unfortunately, attacks on healthcare workers show no signs of decreasing. The latest episode dates back to early May (a month ago) when a man had threatened to kill himself with a corkscrew and then turned his fury against psychiatric doctors and nurses with threats, breaking a glass window, then the doors and cabinets of locker rooms. And in March, there was another attack during the night shift, with a doctor knocked to the ground by a patient admitted to Psychiatry.
Enrico Mattia Del Punta
