Do we keep our health workers safe enough?
It’s a question being raised after a doctor was assaulted at the hospital where he worked.
Dr Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, aged in his 40s, was punched in the head in the foyer of the Box Hill Hospital on Tuesday. He still remains in hospital, after being taken to The Alfred hospital in a critical condition.
It’s not a one off occurrence. For years there have been reports of horror instances in hospitals, often dealing with patients in the emergency department under the influence of drugs and alcohol. A report back in 2014 revealed nine out of 10 emergency doctors and nurses had been assaulted or physically threatened in the year prior.
A neurosurgeon, Dr Michael Wong, who was almost killed when he was stabbed while working at Western General Hospital in Footscray in 2014, has raised concerns about the lack of security at hospitals, reports ABC News.
It is an issue he raised last year and again today.
“What is most tragic, and what really cuts deep in me is this attack at Box Hill Hospital happened in almost identical circumstances to what happened to me three years ago,” Dr Wong said. “It begs the question: What has been done to protect hospital staff three years on? The hospital staff are precious resources. Yet this sort of attack highlights that the hospital environment is not a safe environment, and more security measures need to be in place.”
Dr Wong said he was not calling for “airport security”, but basic measures like security guards in public areas, separate entrances for hospital staff and areas that required security passes.