Korea – 4th April, 2019: The government has ordered all medical institutions over a certain size and psychiatric hospitals to install emergency alarms and exits, and hire private security, to create a safe healthcare environment amid an increasing number of attacks by patients on medical workers, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday.
In addition, the ministry is set to push for heavier punishment of those who assault medical staff ― even if they are intoxicated.
The ministry said the measures are aimed at slashing the ratio of hospitals experiencing violence by half to 6 percent in 2022.
The measures come after a renowned psychiatrist at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Seoul was stabbed to death by one of his patients on Dec. 31, 2018. After the tragedy, there were growing calls for the government to devise measures assuring a safe environment for medical staff in which they can perform their duties without the fear of possible attacks.
"The ministry plans to revise the enforcement regulations of the relevant laws by the end of the year, so hospitals over a certain size and psychiatric hospitals are required to install emergency alarms and exits and have security personnel," Kang Do-tae, who heads the ministry's healthcare policy division, said in a press briefing at the Sejong Government Complex.
He added cooperation between medical institutions and police will be strengthened, under which the latter will train hospital-hired security personnel in initial response actions; and the two will establish a hotline for emergencies.
"The ministry will financially support hospitals when they invest in security facilities and personnel," Kang said, adding the ministry will also distribute guidelines on how to prevent violence in advance and respond to it.
Currently, if a person attacks medical staff, they can be sentenced to up to five years in prison or fined up to 50 million won ($44,000) under the Medical Law.
To alert more people to violence against medical workers, the government will consider revising the law to impose more severe punishment if the violence leads to serious injury to medical staff or other patients.
In addition, it will create the legal basis to punish those who use violence while under the influence of alcohol, because many such offenders have avoided punishment by claiming they were not in a sufficiently capable mental state to make reasonable decisions.
Assaults on medical workers and rescue staff are emerging as one of the most serious issues in the Korean medical sector.
Last July, a patient attacked a doctor with a hammer and destroyed equipment at a Gangneung hospital because he received a lower-than-expected disability grade that would grant him a disability allowance.
In the same month, a drunk patient attacked a doctor in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, while a man in his 30s was arrested for attacking a doctor because he "waited too long" in the emergency room of a hospital in Incheon last December.
The death of a female firefighter on duty due to an assault by a drunk man last year also highlighted the seriousness of the problem.
Source: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/04/119_266627.html