Melbourne, Australia – 19th November, 2019: Beefed-up security and police will patrol the streets around Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne's west after two young doctors were brutally assaulted in the space of a week after finishing work.
A geriatric registrar was walking to his car on Monday afternoon when he was attacked from behind by four young men in broad daylight about 5.20pm on Hibiscus Avenue, around the corner from the hospital in St Albans.
The doctor, who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity, said he tripped and fell to the ground, before he was kicked to the face three times by the attackers. They got away with his phone, wallet and bag, and he was treated at Sunshine Hospital for soft tissue injuries and a broken tooth.
The assault came less than a week after a junior doctor was attacked by four young men matching the same description. That doctor had just finished his shift in the paediatric emergency department about 11pm last Tuesday when he was marched at knifepoint to his car. The four assailants drove off in his white Subaru Impreza sedan.
Police are investigating both incidents.
Australian Medical Association Victoria president Julian Rait said he had been given assurances from Western Health and the state government on Tuesday morning there would be extra police and security patrolling the hospital and surrounding streets following the attacks.
Staff finishing their shifts late in the evening will also be escorted back to their cars by security.
"It appears the hospital is being seen as a soft target for people who want to commit crimes against staff coming in and out at all hours," Professor Rait said.
The attacks come months after The Age reported junior doctors at Sunshine Hospital had launched legal action amid claims they were working beyond exhaustion, underpaid and not given mandatory clinical training – issues they said were putting patients at risk.
"Yet again the junior doctors feel distressed and abandoned," Professor Rait said. "Here we have another example of them being treated completely indifferently ... not only are they being exploited from a wage point of view, they also don't seem to be adequately protected when they are coming to and from work."
Chief executive Russell Harrison said the staff member was being supported by colleagues and family.
"We are extremely concerned that these assaults have occurred and the safety of Western Health staff and volunteers is our top priority," Mr Harrison said in a statement.
"We are pursuing additional avenues to address staff and volunteer safety and will continue to liaise with Victoria Police."
Source: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/second-doctor-assaulted-in-a-week-after-sunshine-hospital-shift-20191119-p53bti.html