After tragedy in Krakow, medical community demands changes. Doctors' demands on health minister's desk

Lukasz Jankowski presented demands at the meeting, the implementation of which is expected to give a qualitative change in the level of security in hospitals and clinics. The list of proposals includes prosecuting threats against medics ex officio, hiding personal data of health care workers in public records, or establishing a special registry of aggressive patients as a prevention tool. The medics also propose the introduction of a new category of crime - disruption of public order in medical facilities, to enable immediate response of services in emergency situations and imposition of administrative fines.

- Physician safety is not a privilege - it is the foundation of a smoothly functioning health care system. Whenever we hit physician safety, we also hit patient safety," reminds NRL President Lukasz Jankowski.

During the meeting, Minister Izabela Leszczyna expressed readiness for further cooperation and declared the start of inter-ministerial consultations that are to lead to the implementation of appropriate legislative changes. However, she has to discuss the matter with the ministers of justice and interior affairs - as the demands of the medical community in a huge part concern their competence.

One example is a registry of aggressive patients, created along the lines of the so-called blue card procedure, set up for perpetrators of domestic violence. Doctors explain the need for its introduction by the fact that today medical staff do not know when a patient who may be an aggressive person enters the facility. If they had such knowledge, the patient would receive the service under a special standard (that is, for example, assisted by another medical worker). The introduction of such a solution, of course, requires a number of regulatory changes, including the Patients' Rights Act.

The doctors will bring their list of demands to the Health Ministry once again, on May 10 - a march of silence is to be held on Saturday, during which doctors and representatives of other professions want to protest what they believe is growing aggression against medical workers. On May 6, Tuesday, in hospitals across the country, doctors want to pay tribute to the doctor Tomasz Solecki, who was murdered a week ago and whose funeral will take place the following day.