Attacks on medical staff by citizens visiting the Accident and Emergency Departments of public hospitals have become commonplace, with the most recent being last Saturday when an ambulance crew member was attacked by a patient who grabbed him by the throat, forcing him to the guild to take action and is considering legal measures against the State Health Services Organization (OKYPY), as well as the Ministry of Health.
The incidents from being isolated, as they were described many times, have now become… routine, as a result of which the physical integrity of the medical staff of the TAEP is put at risk, who, through letters they send to PASYNO, convey the seriousness of the situation . In fact, as PASYNO's press representative, Theodoros Petelis, told the REPORTER, sometimes the descriptions of the nurses bring tears to their eyes for what they see and experience in the TAEP. In their letters to the union, the nurses describe an uncertain everyday life of what they will face, which unfortunately, they have accepted.
As Mr. Petelis mentioned, “sometimes we read letters from colleagues and we cry. What the colleagues describe is the swelling of the problem. Month after month the incidents are increasing instead of decreasing and in less than a week two incidents of physical violence were recorded. A colleague wrote in her letter that it became their daily routine, they got used to it and that is sad. Another wrote that he got up in the morning to go to work and mentally prepared himself for what he would see. Their descriptions are the painful and unfair reality they live in and which the authorities should finally deal with”.
Despite the fact that over the years the guild urgently requested the intervention of their employer, i.e. OKYPY, instead it receives indifference and non-admission of the seriousness and swelling of the problem, hence legal measures are now being considered.
Mr. Petelis explained that, “since we see an increase in incidents of violence in First Aid Departments, where there is no police, no security, nor anything to prevent such incidents, we must act. On the other hand, we see the OKYpY that does not take the necessary measures to protect the workers, nor does it admit the problem and is in a bubble that everything is fine. So we decided to take legal action, both against OKYpY and against the Ministry of Health. Under other circumstances, the one who should legally protect us is the Organization. So, in addition to the measure we decided to leave our posts in the event of a new attack, we have spoken with our legal advisors and we hope that by the end of the week a plan will be drawn up, through which they will indicate to us how we can proceed legal action against our employer and his refusal to take action”.
OKYpY, according to Mr. Petelis, in an effort to find solutions, had taken out of the drawers a manual on how to operate the TAEP and in its letter PASYNO to the Organization points out that the manual was never used, nor evaluated. “Since then we have not received a response. What we had suggested is that our employer, that is, OKYpY, evaluate the TAEP and identify the reasons why these attacks are observed. Among the measures we suggested is continuous policing outside and inside TAEP, to check visitors, to reduce examination times inside TAEP and to have better contact with other departments of the hospitals, such as chemistry”.
At the same time, Mr. Patelis explains that, “when a patient comes to the TAEP and waits more than two hours to be examined, it causes congestion in the triage department. Also, if a patient is admitted, he should not have to wait hours or even days to be transferred from the TAEP to the admission ward. There was a patient who waited three hours. The main reason for attacks is waiting, because patients do not have the patience to wait so many hours to be examined, especially if they are in pain. The representative of OKYpY emphasized that the manual states that the nurse should go out and reassure people, it is not so easy when the other person waits for many hours, on the contrary they get more irritated”.
Catalyst Mr. Petelis said that there were many discussions on this specific issue and that what should be there from the Organization is a will.
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Source: www.reporter.com.cy
