Health workers on day-long strike to commemorate murdered colleague

ANKARA

DHA Photo

Thousands of health workers did not attend to their medical duties today, marking the one year anniversary of Ersin Arslan’s murder by his patient’s relatives, as a Parliament commission released a report on how to prevent violence against health workers.

The Turkish Doctors’ Association had previously announced that they would not treat patients on April 17, “to remember Ersin Arslan and to bring cases of violence in the health industry to public attention.”

Arslan was stabbed to death by relatives of patient he has been treating in Gaziantep on April 17, 2012.

Hospitalized patients, patients coming to emergency services, dialysis and cancer patients were the only exceptions to the one-day doctors’ strike.

Around 150 health workers attempted to build a tent at the entrance of the Kocaeli University’s Medical Faculty’s Research and Practice Hospital, but private security guards removed the tent.

The strike came on the same day that Parliament’s research commission on violence against health workers submitted its report on the issue, Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.

Some of the suggestions made by the commission are that the penalties for violence against health workers should be increased in order for them to be a deterrent, the work and on-duty hours of health workers should be rearranged and long hours of work should be avoided, and also that a mobile phone or panic button is necessary to prevent violence in health centers.

The report also recommended that risk analysis should be conducted in all health institutions and that security measures should be taken in those areas where risks of violence are more likely. It added that “panic situation” equipment should be included in the personal protection materials of all health personnel and that regulations should be made to enable the arrival of security forces on the scene as soon as possible.

The report also said that the convictions given in cases of violence against health workers should be published in the media in order to be deterrent, while the speeches of imams in mosques should also address the issue.

The commission was formed on April 25, 2012 and it started its works on June 19, 2012.