"Sağlık-Sen" health care professionals union Chairman Semih Durmuş shared the "Violence in Health Research" prepared by the Sağlık-Sen Strategic Research Center (SASAM) operating under their organization, with the public at the press conference he held.
Pointing out that violence threatens the health system at the press conference, Durmuş said that violence negatively affects the professional and social lives of all healthcare professionals, from doctors to nurses, from 112 employees to technicians, regardless of their branches.
Stressing that there were 136 incidents of violence in the first 6 months of 2022, Durmuş noted that 226 healthcare workers were victims of violence, according to the "Report of Violence in Health", which is regularly published by "Sağlık-Sen" every month.
Reminding that after Dr. Ekrem Karakaya was murdered by a patient's relative while on duty in Konya, Durmuş reminded that security measures were increased at some hospital entrances.
"We hope that this overdue step will be expanded across the country immediately. It should be resolutely shown to everyone that health centers are not homeless, and that health workers are not unattended," Durmuş said.
"LEGAL REGULATIONS DO NOT PREVENT VIOLENCE"
Durmuş stated that violence in health is within the scope of a catalog crime, but this does not prevent violence.
"In recent years, legal arrangements have been made to deter. Unfortunately, despite all these regulations, violence continues to increase. This means that the problem cannot be prevented with legal regulations. Because the problem is multidimensional as well as multidimensional. As such, the safety of health workers continues to be at risk," he added.
Durmuş shared the information that 82 percent of the healthcare professionals are worried about being exposed to violence and that 9 percent of them feel safe.
"That's a pretty high percentage, and it's also a huge threat that will cause alarm bells to go off," Durmuş said.
HEALTHCARE WORKERS WANT EMERGENCY ACTION AGAINST VIOLENCE
Expressing the demands of healthcare professionals regarding the prevention of violence, Durmuş listed the demands as follows:
"Increasing security measures, imposing deterrent penalties, cooperating with the media, providing employment, improving working conditions, eliminating system-based problems, providing trainings. Necessity of these issues, which were pointed out by the participants of the research at the solution point, must be done. In order to prevent the density in the ED, the entrance of the relatives of the patients should be limited. The electronic appointment system should be revised according to the branch and hospital in order to benefit citizens from all walks of life and to extend the appointment intervals."