Press Release
……………………………………………………………………….
The Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue (FDHRD) issues its report “Medical staff in the crosshairs” today, Thursday, 24/11/2022, which deals with the phenomenon of infringement on medical staff in order to put an end to stop this phenomenon that affects one of the noblest professions in human history.
Assaulting medical staff is a crime that has become frequent, and cannot be tolerated. This phenomenon not only leads to the elimination of medical equipment worth millions of pounds or the disruption of the treatment of hundreds of patients, but more importantly, it leads to a deep rift that is difficult to repair between doctors and their patients.
The report deals with the definition of medicine and the doctor – the importance of the medical profession – the importance of the role of the doctor – the difficulties of the medical profession – cases of assault on medical staff – the punishment for assaulting medical staff and hospitals – conclusion and recommendations
The report pointed out that with every incident of assault on doctors while performing their mission and on medical facilities, the General Syndicate renews its continuous and urgent demands to stop the attacks on hospitals and their employees, by quickly issuing a draft law on medical liability, which represents an urgent necessity for the regularity of providing health service and controlling the relation between the service provider and its recipients in the event of medical damage, and toughening the penalty for assaulting medical staff and facilities.
For many years, doctors in Egypt have been calling on the government and parliament to introduce a legislative amendment that would increase the penalties for assaulting them while performing their work, given that the current penalty is not deterrent, which is a maximum of 6 months in prison, while it reaches 10 years in prison in some Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In conclusion, the report made a set of recommendations for the protection of medical staff, as follows:
- Providing a safe work environment for doctors, toughening the penalty for infringement on doctors and health facilities, speeding up the issuance of the Medical Liability Law to protect doctors and as insurance against errors and to hold doctors accountable professionally. The culture of society and the patient that there is a look of doubt that the patient has towards the doctor, so the law must be issued to regulate this issue and solve the problems. The law must include toughening the penalty for infringement on medical staff and medical facilities.
- Tightening hospital security procedures and providing appropriate security measures as needed for personal safety to protect doctors from exposure to violence, and not allowing the patient to be accompanied by more than one individual.
- Providing information and training on occupational safety and health for all workers in the health sector.
- Conducting media campaigns to make citizens aware of the importance of the role of medical staff and the danger of attacking them
- Amending the classification of assaults on medical personnel from a mere quarrel in which a report is drawn up to considering it an assault on a public employee while performing his work and increasing the penalty.
- Having cameras in all health facilities to record any violations that occur, and the use of recordings in investigations to preserve the right of the medical team and all workers in health facilities, and the health facilities themselves.
For his part, Saeed Abdel Hafez, Chairman of the FDHRD, called for the development of a national strategic plan to combat violence against medical staff and reduce attacks on doctors. He stressed the importance of the role of the media in educating citizens that attacks on doctors will affect the efficiency of the health system, as well as the country’s economy and And the need to expedite the procedures for approving the legal medical liability and to increase the penalty for attacking health facilities, including human resources, equipment.
Mohammed Al-Badawi, Director of Research and Programs at the FDHRD also pointed out the need to provide protection measures for medical staff, not only as one of their natural rights, but also as a necessity to protect society, stressing that it is necessary to expedite the preparation of new legislation that regulates the overlap in medical responsibility and achieves protection for both the patient and the doctor, so that it determines medical responsibility.
