Violence in hospitals

“I wish I had the option of dealing with violent people”

Prof. Dr. Rudolph Pointner has been Medical Director at the Tauernklinikum Zell am See since 1989(Bild: EXPA/ JFK)

Verbal abuse, beatings, vandalism - hospitals are increasingly having to deal with patients who misbehave. A medical director is now calling for hospitals to finally have more room for maneuver.

The same letter has already landed on the desk of mediator Marianne Paki 71 times this year. It reads: The verbal and physical assaults on the security and nursing staff of the Salzburg Provincial Hospitals (SALK) by patients and their relatives. On Wednesday, a Latvian man (38) attacked a security guard at the university hospital with punches and injured him. The man is being reported.

SALK has posted signs to indicate that threats or attacks will be reported. A security service also patrols the grounds at night. Employees are trained to de-escalate and there are emergency call buttons throughout the building with a direct line to the police.

But that is not enough. "Assault is clearly on the increase," says Rudolph Pointner, Medical Director of the Tauernklinikum Zell am See. There are no security staff there: "That would only increase the violence," he says. He would like to see more legal action: "There should be representation, like patients have, for doctors and nurses too. And an ombudsman's office that takes up incidents."