Following the assault of a nurse in Marseille, the Hospital Federation of France asked for police reinforcements to come to terms with the hospital violence. The proposal divides doctors.
The assault on a nurse last Sunday at the Conception hospital in Marseille (AP-HM) continues to arouse strong reactions. It is now up to the Hospital Federation of France, which brings together hospital executives and directors, to ask for increased security in hospitals.
The FHF asks the government to “take all measures to ensure the safety of agents is ensured on the most sensitive hospital sites, by strengthening the police force when necessary. “In addition, the Federation considers that” the rise in violence in emergencies and in hospitals has reached an unacceptable level. The hospital must ensure the safety of its agents, but in certain cases cannot do it alone, ”she concludes.
This appeal to public authorities followed the trip in the morning of Jean-Marc Ayrault, accompanied by five ministers in the emergency department of La Conception, where the attack took place. The Prime Minister asked the director general of the Paca Regional Health Agency, Paul Castel, to organize a meeting next Wednesday on the subject of security. This meeting should involve representatives of the AP-HM, in particular of the emergencies, of the police, or of the town hall of Marseille. The objective is “that a lasting solution be found to ensure the safety of patients and hospital staff,” said the head of government.
But the debates are likely to be tense. The response to the violence divides the hospital community. Two visions clash.
Contacted by why actor, Prof. Marc Alazia, head of the emergency department at the Conception hospital, offers a radical solution. Exasperated by the verbal or physical attacks which are increasing in his service, this doctor asks the general management of his establishment, “the presence in the emergency department of a dissuasive police force 24 hours a day”.
This police presence in a medical world is not to the taste of all health professionals. Christophe Prudhomme, emergency doctor at the SAMU in Seine-Saint-Denis, and spokesperson for the Association des Médecins Urgentistes de France (AMUF), defends different measures. “We believe that the presence of security forces will not improve security in emergencies, on the contrary,” he said. Faced with very excited and often alcoholic individuals, this presence even risks increasing the level of violence (…). 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. ”
Last request from the association of emergency responders, 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. “
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