Hospitals spend heavily on security after series of attacks Photo: CFP A hospital employee was beaten by a female patient and three of her...

Hospitals spend heavily on security after series of attacks

Photo: CFP

A hospital employee was beaten by a female patient and three of her friends yesterday morning in the emergency room of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. The four attackers fled after the assault, which allegedly started after the patient refused to take a tetanus antitoxin test.

This is the latest in a series of hospital clashes between medical staff and patients to hit the headlines in the past month, despite efforts by health and public security officials to boost security in hospitals.

Since March 23, three separate cases at the Peking University People's Hospital (PKUPH), the Aerospace General Hospital and the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University have killed one and injured five more staff members.

On Friday, Wang Baoming, a patient who stabbed doctor Xu Wen 18 times at Beijing Tongren Hospital in September, was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Boosting security

The Ministry of Health has been seeking to control such incidents. In February it announced a plan to establish a rapid police response network to handle conflicts in hospitals.

Two days after the stabbing at the hospital in Harbin, the Ministry of Public Security came out with a general plan for creating a security network at and around hospitals. The same week, the Ministry of Health demanded that all levels of medical authorities ensure the protection and safety of medical staff, in cooperation with the police.

The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau asked hospitals in the city to consolidate their security systems, after the attack at Beijing Tongren Hospital last year.

"In the first two months after the stabbing, security guards at Tongren were frequently seen patrolling, but that did not last long," a doctor from the same department, who was declined to be named, told the Global Times.

A security guard at Tongren agreed that the number of guards at the hospital had gone up, but not by much, saying "there are a few dozen for the whole hospital."

A security guard from the PKUPH,  surnamed Wang, told the Global Times he has been far busier since Xing Zhimin, a doctor, was stabbed on April 13. 

"For instance, we have two shifts now - day and night, for the day shift, we have to patrol around the assigned departments once every two hours; and for night shift, it is about staying up," said Wang.

Wang Shan, director of PKUPH, told the Global Times that the hospital has been trying to raise the security level after the recent stabbing incident involving Xing,  but that it is proving difficult.

"I think what matters here is that in the current system, a hospital is not categorized as a public place but a business unit where police officers cannot operate. The ability to handle violence is largely hindered by the fact that no police presence is assigned here," Wang said.

Can new rules help?

The PKUPH is rolling out a myriad of rules to maintain order, such as setting up more surveillance cameras and assigning a security guard to every two medical staff on night shift. Wang said that they are also planning to recruit more guards to fill new posts.

After the attack at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University that saw an intern killed and another three injured late last month, its director Liu Hongyu told the Global Times that all was being done to ensure the security of staff.

"Before the accident, security guards covered almost all areas of our hospital, but not every floor,"  Liu said.

"Our new access control system that blocks unauthorized personnel from the premises should be upgraded, and the rules for visiting patients should be strictly enforced," Liu added.

According to a latest notice announced by authorities in Heilongjiang, a 24-hour on-duty rotation of security guards is required in key areas such as emergency rooms and wards at all hospitals in the province and a non-stop security monitoring surveillance system should be available any time.

But taking action after the fact is not enough. "Hospitals have to know that safety is paramount," Ling Feng, chairman of Neurosurgical Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, was quoted as saying by the Harbin Daily.

"Apart from security hardware such as alarms, surveillance cameras and access control systems, the presence of security staff should also be strengthened," Ling said.

Trying to transfer

A doctor from the PKUPH spoke to the Global Times on condition of anonymity, revealing that ever since the violence, her family members have been trying to persuade her to take a break or transfer to another post.

"The hospital has been ranked as one of the most dangerous workplaces now, and intensified security checks will not quickly alleviate doctor-patient tensions," she said.

A step-up in security technology and increasing patrols will not offer enough help to stop the threat of attack, experts say.

Ling added that a professional third-party mechanism to help mediate disputes is needed to assuage tension between medical staff and patients.

Wang Zhengrong, a National People's Congress deputy and vice president of the Health Department of Sichuan Province, said in a press conference last month that medical circles are exploring the possibility of creating such an independent arbitration body to solve medical disputes.