The president of the FHF will ask Manuel Valls on Thursday for the establishment of an anti-violence plan at the hospital. Video surveillance, collaboration with the police, these tracks divide doctors.
Insults, threats, physical attacks, gunshots, sometimes, it is in this violent framework that more and more hospital workers in France are evolving. To try to fight against this violence in the hospital, the leaders of the Hospital Federation of France (FHF) meet this Thursday at the end of the day the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls.
Asked in The Parisian Monday on this subject, the president of the FHF, Frédéric Valletoux, wishes to take advantage of this meeting to remind the government that in 2012, the report of the National Observatory of Violence in the Health Environment (Onvs), identified more than 11 000 reports of attacks on property and people in 352 health establishments (92% public). And among these reports, 8,083 concerned attacks on people, “including 7,860 hospital patients, victims of violence. ”
Faced with these figures, the president of the FHF deplores that acts of violence “keep increasing and that many are passed over in silence. “For all these reasons, he intends to immediately ask the minister responsible for the security of the French,” for a national action plan against violence in hospitals. “
Unanimous simplification of complaints
In detail, the FHF first of all wants to simplify the filing of complaints for hospital victims of assault. “Nearly 80% of violent events in the hospital do not give rise to any report”, regretted in the regional daily Frédéric Valletoux.
“This proposal is good. It is nevertheless an old union demand that we have strongly supported for years ”, confides a bit annoyed Dr. Christophe Prudhomme contacted by the editorial staff of why actor. This emergency physician, spokesperson for emergency physicians within the AMUF (1), says that until recently, “the attacked hospital worker himself had to go to the police station to lodge his complaint. Alone and without any support from the hospital management, ”he explains.
Thus, the emergency physician would like the hospital management, in conjunction with the police, to find a solution so that these complaints are facilitated. “The ideal is for the procedure to be as fast as possible and for it to take place at the workplace of the person attacked”, thinks this doctor.
Listen to Dr Chistophe Prudhomme, spokesperson for AMUF: ” We want the hospital management to support the person who was attacked even more, in collaboration with the police …“
Financial aid for hospitals developing video surveillance?
In addition, the FHF intends to plead tomorrow with the State to finance even more the installation of video surveillance in the hospital. “With why not financial aid for hospitals wishing to equip themselves with this device. ”
This proposal is positively received by the doctors of the AMUF. “If it is to make the hospital grounds more secure, why not”, indicates Dr Christophe Prudhomme. However, the latter remains skeptical about the real use of video surveillance: “In some health establishments, we are in conflict with the management of the hospital which uses video surveillance to spy on medical staff …”
Listen to Dr Chistophe Prudhomme : ” Regarding video surveillance, you have to know what it is really used for and in which department it is installed. This to avoid any controversy …”
The FHP calls for police reinforcements in hospitals
In addition, the president of the Federation says he wants to “instigate a major national line” against violence in hospitals, by bringing together the police and hospital staff. “We now want a national framework that will allow the deployment of a strategy against insecurity,” he insists. We must “encourage hospital staff to work with the police. »But until where?
And concerning this thorny issue of police forces in hospitals, Frédéric Valletoux has already taken a clear position on the subject during the assault last August of a nurse in the emergency department of the Hôpital de la Conception (Marseille). In a Press release of the FHF published on that date he wrote: “The hospital must ensure the safety of its agents, but in certain cases it cannot do it alone. This is why the FHF asks the ministers concerned to take all measures to ensure the safety of agents on the most sensitive sites, by strengthening the police force when necessary. “
But for Dr Christophe Prudhomme this proposition is the worst of all. “We believe within the AMUF that the presence of security forces will not improve security in emergencies, on the contrary. Faced with very excited and often alcoholic individuals, this presence even risks increasing the level of violence (…). ”
The AMUF offers a “secure isolated” circuit for the most at-risk patients
Moreover, on this subject, these emergency doctors have a very precise idea of what should be done: “We are campaigning for an adaptation of the premises, in which the individuals most at risk would be taken care of via a secure and isolated circuit. . A separate unit which must be equipped with a video surveillance system, ”explains Christophe Prudhomme.
This specialist in issues related to emergency services also pleads for the establishment of a simplified reflex call to the police. “With a push button, we could instantly listen to what is happening in our premises. When a situation is suspicious, the police could, thanks to this system, intervene as quickly as possible as soon as the situation worsens, ”he concludes.
(1) Association of Emergency Physicians of France
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