Nurses appeal to the Ministry of Health and demand changes: protection is a fiction

• Nurses and midwives warn that physical and psychological aggression is an everyday occurrence in their work – 78% of them have been victims of violence, and almost 98% have witnessed such events.
• Underfunding of healthcare and staff shortages negatively impact the safety of staff and patients and reduce the quality of services
• They demand urgent, comprehensive reforms – including in the field of education on how to deal with aggression, effective prosecution of perpetrators, increased legal protection and cooperation with the police and improved working conditions.

The authors of the appeal emphasized that aggression is a common and everyday experience for nurses and midwives.

- Savings that have been introduced in the healthcare system for years have a negative impact on the safety of medical staff and patients . Staff shortages lead to frustration and also affect the quality of services provided - they noted.

They added that financial shortages in healthcare entities lead to "the fiction of ensuring direct and indirect protection of medical workers" .

- We demand urgent implementation of systemic changes. We are not interested in further political declarations. Actions based on point activities are insufficient and do not solve problems. We need comprehensive solutions developed by experts in security systems and practitioners performing medical professions - reads a fragment of the appeal.

According to the authors, urgent changes need to be made in:

• educating medical workers on how to properly respond to physical and psychological aggression (soft techniques, hard skills);
• the functioning of the justice system (prosecution of aggressive behaviour towards medical workers performing professional activities, inevitability of punishment);
• strengthening the legal protection of public officials performing professional duties, including the possibility of refusing to perform life-saving activities in the event of a direct threat to the life and health of medical workers;
• cooperation with the relevant services and mutual communication, including with the police;
• standards of operation of medical entities in the area of ​​ensuring appropriate working conditions and security measures (entity protection, communication systems, personal protective equipment).

- We demand the establishment of an inter-ministerial crisis team with the participation of security experts and representatives of medical professions, in particular nurses, paramedics and doctors, which will develop a number of systemic changes within a maximum period of 6 months, which will be urgently implemented - concluded the representatives of NIPiP and OZZPiP.

Krystyna Ptok, chairwoman of the Polish Union of Nurses and Midwives, emphasized that 78 percent of nurses and midwives had been victims of aggression at work, and 97.9 percent had witnessed aggressive behavior at work.

- These are facts. Not myths. These professional groups are constantly exposed to aggression - she said.

Doctors and paramedics are also demanding increased safety in their work. After the murder of a doctor at the University Hospital in Krakow, which took place on April 29 , the medical self-government submitted its demands to the Ministry of Health in this matter. Among them is the official prosecution of criminal threats against medical personnel.

On Monday, the Ministry of Health hosted a meeting between the head of the ministry, Izabela Leszczna, and the Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, Tomasz Siemoniak, and the Chief Commander of the Police, Marek Boroń. The talks focused on actions aimed at increasing safety in medical facilities.

The Ministry of Health announces, among other things, a campaign that will present the social role of medical personnel and emphasize the importance of respect for medical professions.

The police also conduct training for members of emergency medical teams. So far , over 9,900 paramedics have signed up for it .

The Ministry of Justice has prepared an amendment to the Penal Code, which provides for special protection not only for public officials, but also for those who take action to save life and health - including paramedics, firefighters and citizens responding to dangerous situations.

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