Μake us preferred on Google A nurse was attacked by a patient in the Emergency Department of Athens’ Red Cross Hospital, amid renewed concerns over violence against health care workers in Greece’s public hospitals.
The nurse, who works in the hospital’s intensive care unit, had been assigned to the Emergency Department during her shift to help reinforce staffing during the hospital’s on-call period.
According to a complaint by Michalis Giannakos, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDHN), the patient was on a stretcher in the examination area and had been told she would need to wait because other cases considered more urgent were being treated and required immediate medical attention.
A few minutes later, the situation escalated.
The patient got up from the stretcher and, according to the complaint, attacked the nurse, pulling her by the hair, punching her and striking her head against a door.
Giannakos calls violence against staff “uncontrolled”
Speaking to Greek broadcaster MEGA, Giannakos described what he said was an increasingly serious situation in which doctors and nurses are subjected to violent attacks by patients and their companions.
“Incidents of violence against health care personnel are out of control,” Giannakos said. “We have really become punching bags for patients and companions who do not respect the operating protocol of hospitals on duty.”
He said health care workers had suffered serious injuries in attacks and added that, so far, “by luck” there had been no fatalities.
Giannakos also criticized security arrangements at public hospitals, saying private security guards are not permitted under their operating protocols to physically intervene when someone attacks a health care worker.
“When we are attacked and guards are prohibited from touching the person who is attacking, what kind of protection can they offer us?” he said, adding that their role is to notify police.
Allegations over the Red Cross Hospital incident
Regarding the incident at the Red Cross Hospital, Giannakos said two security guards were present when the nurse was attacked but did not intervene.
He alleged that the patient, whom he described as intoxicated, had been waiting on a stretcher when doctors determined that two patients whose lives were at risk had to be treated first.
Giannakos said the woman then got up, targeted the nurse, grabbed her by the hair, hit her and chased her outside before attacking her again.
Police were notified, he said, but Giannakos questioned whether their intervention was sufficient when officers arrive only after an incident has occurred.
He also referred to a law under which people who cause disturbances in hospitals can face prosecution without a complaint being required and potentially be jailed. However, he said hospital workers are still often told to file complaints themselves, while some employees avoid doing so because they fear becoming targets.
Another incident reported in Volos
Giannakos said the incident at the Red Cross Hospital was not the only case reported that Friday night.
He also referred to an incident in Volos, where a woman accompanied her daughter to a hospital after the daughter suffered a minor accident. According to Giannakos, the woman assaulted a doctor and a nurse, tearing their shirts and blouses.
He further alleged that a third person subsequently posted about the incident online, distorting what had happened.
