Medical staff defenceless against patient violence

THE medical union Simebal claimed yesterday that staff at some health centres (PACs) were “defenceless” in the face of aggression as they do not have a porter or a security guard. According to union spokeswoman Nieves de Meer, the PACs in Palma and Inca are the only ones in Majorca to have a porter and security guard.
The other centres on the island, she said, including some “especially conflictive ones” with “a heavy volume of work,” such as the one in Arenal, have only the medical staff on duty. And what's more, between 9pm and 8am, the emergency team is reduced to one doctor and one nurse. De Meer said that this led to situations such as yesterday, when a woman believed to be suffering from mental problems, attacked a doctor and a nurse.
The woman doctor was rescued by a male colleague who was in the building “by chance” as it was after 9pm, and only the two women who were attacked should have been there. De Meer criticised the fact that in centres as busy as Arenal, there should only be two people on duty to attend people who went to the centre and also pay home calls on patients who were unable to go to the PAC. She listed other cases of violence against medical staff carrying out house calls. They included a doctor and driver who were threatened with a shotgun and a doctor threatened with a sword. Another doctor was retained against his will while a third received a death threat if his patient died from his health problems. She added there was also a danger from drug addicts who went to the PACs for tranquilisers.
She called on the health ministry to lay on more staff and better funding for the emergency service, as well as improved security.