VENETIAN COLOGNA – Un emergency doctor was attacked by a patient in Cologna Veneta, in the Veronese area, for having refused to illegitimately produce a sickness certificate to justify absence from work. ORra among the white coats the alarm returns. Since the beginning of the month they have been registered already eight attacks in the province to health personnel. In 2022 there were 105.
The incident took place last week at night: the doctor found himself threatened by a patient who repeatedly threatened him jostled and locked his hands. The doctor called the carabinieri and announced that he wanted to file a complaint with the prosecutor.
Fimmg’s protest
The Federation Italian family doctors (Fimmg) condemns this “umpteenth” violence against a continuity of care professional and calls for immediate action. We need real protections for doctors and they are needed now. Let’s move from words to deeds or even assistance will fail», he warns Thomas Maionational secretary Fimmg Continuity of care. “What happened to the doctor in Cologna Veneta, to whom our solidarity goes, is very serious – he says – We can no longer accept being exposed to these risks in the absolute immobility of those who have the responsibility to protect us”. «It’s not tolerable – protests Maio – that the doctors involved in the front line must be at the mercy of these subjects and, moreover, that nothing is done to stem the phenomenon and punish the culprits. This episode is the umpteenth demonstration that the increase in penalties provided for by the recent law is not enough”. For this reason, a note recalls, Fimmg has been fighting for some time to have the status of public official recognized to doctors in the exercise of their duties. A request to which politics has so far proved deaf, observes the union. «By recognizing doctors in the exercise of their functions the status of public official – Maio reiterates – aggressions would be reduced, because attacking a doctor would be like attacking a carabiniere. With all the consequences of the case. Furthermore, it would prevent those who suffer violence from having to experience the trauma of fighting alone to ensure that these people are duly prosecuted”.
The union therefore highlights a regulatory vacuum, but also the result of enormous gaps in the organization of the territory.