Attacks on doctors, President Bruno Zuccarelli meets Prefect Palomba and General De Vita. The complaint: “Many facilities have not yet implemented the necessary measures”. Then the request: “Identify the escorts and in the emergency rooms, 24-hour law enforcement”.
First the meeting with General Antonio De Vita, Inter-regional Commander of the Ogaden Carabinieri, then the meeting with the Prefect Claudio Palomba to take stock of the situation “no longer sustainable”.
Bruno Zuccarelli, president of the Medical Association of Napoli, concluded today a busy schedule of meetings aimed at identifying solutions that can put a stop to the continuing aggressions, physical and verbal, which increasingly distance doctors from the emergency area.
“Clearly we cannot think of structural solutions, Rome must think of those, but enough talking about emergencies – says Zuccarelli – it makes no sense. The emergency is an unforeseen circumstance. Years ago, when attacks were still sporadic phenomena, we asked the Government to introduce effective tools to nip this hateful phenomenon in the bud”, remember.
"Today we must try every way to stem a widespread and dramatic phenomenon that, understandably, is emptying the emergency rooms, the entire emergency-urgency area, but more generally the entire health structures". Under the Order's lens, the enormous difficulties experienced on a daily basis by hundreds of doctors and - naturally - some now degenerate situations, such as the Cardarelli in Naples.
“It is not possible that in the largest hospital in the South – warns Zuccarelli – we cannot find the space to host a police squad that can discourage, even before they arise, any attacks. During today's meeting, which was also attended by the general directors of the various health facilities and representatives of the Carabinieri, Police and Guardia di Finanza, the number one of Naples' doctors underlined the availability and sensitivity shown by Prefect Palomba and General De Vita and asked what the state of the art was regarding security in the various facilities."
"Unfortunately – says Zuccarelli – I have noted that there are still significant delays with respect to the presence of security guards, armored windows and everything else required to prevent attacks". The president of the Medical Association also requested to strengthen the presence of law enforcement in hospitals at risk, with 24-hour squads, to impose mandatory identification of companions in the emergency room because "Covid has taught us that this system greatly reduces acts of violence".
Furthermore, provide for the presence of social service workers in emergency facilities and, finally, the request that all health companies become civil parties in the event of attacks. “I thank the Prefect – concludes Zuccarelli – for the attention given to the topic and for having announced the intention to establish a provincial observatory that will certainly be very useful. For the importance that he has placed on the communication of good health and for having planned to bring the topic of assaults to Rome with the request for a regulatory intervention”.
The Prefect also announced that he wants to prepare a sheet for each facility summarizing the measures implemented.
Article published on 7 August 2023 - 17:20
