Health Minister Zuzana Dolinková suggests increasing sanctions for attacks on health professionals. The Slovak Medical Chamber came up with a similar proposal last week and the Association of Private Doctors is also calling for increased protection. Medical staff in several Slovak hospitals are more often facing attacks and assaults by patients. According to experts, higher fines may not solve this.
The staff of the University Hospital in Bratislava are protected by a security service, yet they face aggression almost daily, especially in the central admission wards of hospitals. The situation is similar in the Žilina hospital in Northern Slovakia. According to spokeswoman Zuzana Fialova, 67 attacks were registered in 2023 alone.
“Nurses and orderlies are most often subjected to violence by patients. The most common attacks are punches to the face and kicks.”
The Slovak Medical Chamber wants to initiate an amendment to the legislation to ensure increased protection of health workers, as the current legislation is insufficient, according to doctors. Health Minister Zuzana Dolinková is talking about another measure:
“That is why, at a meeting of the Government's Crime Prevention Council, we proposed higher penalties for assaults on health professionals. Our aim is to provide a safe working environment where they can carry out their work with no fear.”
The Interior Ministry is to participate too. However, neither ministry has specified how sanctions should be increased or what specific measures they will take to protect health workers.
“In situations where there is a health related fear or even if the person's actions are under the influence of an addictive substance, it is not actually possible to achieve a state of protection for every health care worker.“
Minister Zuzana Dolinková did not specify the new level of sanctions. However, similar were in place in Slovakia during the pandemic of covid-19, when an attack on a health worker was punishable by a fine of up to EUR 1 000.
