The more and more frequent instances of assault and battery of doctors by their patients in recent months prompted the Bulgarian Medical Association to relaunch its campaign against violence against medical staff, conveying the message “Saving lives is a calling, and does not call for punishment!”

Their latest initiative draws the public’s attention to the good examples in medical practices, and is taking place under the motto: A kind word heals!

Since the beginning of this year 114 instances of verbal, and 8 of physical aggression at emergency medical centres have been registered. According to data of the Association of Health Professionals, emergency medical teams are assaulted most often, followed by specialists working in ER.

“Not a day goes by now without an attack against colleagues of ours. It is inhuman to attack someone who has come to help you, to bring relief,” says Dr. Boyko Penkov, Deputy Minister of Health.

“Quite a lot of the people who have physically assaulted medical staff are let off with a suspended sentence and a fine. The other thing we are now doing to make our colleagues safer at work is to install surveillance security cameras. They will only be put up in emergency rooms, but we are currently analyzing the needs, i.e. how many cameras and where they should be placed. Knowing there is a security camera in place acts as a deterrent to aggression.”

“The idea is that a kind word is an important element of the solution to the problem of the growing number of instances of aggression against doctors,” says Prof. Nikolay Gabrovski, deputy chairman of the Bulgarian Medical Association. “We, doctors sometimes face a great many problems, we work in very difficult conditions, with a lot of tension and we are exposed to so much stress. Nevertheless most of the medical staff are very experienced, and will always find a kind word to comfort and to give patients hope,” Prof. Gabrovski says.

“It is a sad truth that despite the kind word, we are often the target of aggression. We will, nevertheless, continue to do our duty scrupulously, and to be attentive to our patients. As part of the current campaign, the Bulgarian Medical Association is organizing a photo competition highlighting the doctor-patient relationship, the relationship among doctors and the daily stress for the people practicing the medical profession. The participants will have around one month to collect the photographs which will then be put on display at a central location in Sofia. I hope this will give people food for thought – about what the medical profession takes and whether doctors deserve to be treated with aggression. It is hope inspiring that we are now pooling the efforts of all possible institutions and professional organizations to oppose this barbarity. The truth is that there is no single measure that would have a good result. Violence against doctors, this ugly form of aggression, is in actual fact an expression of the overall increased tendency towards aggression and intolerance in our society. I think that we must stand against any form of aggression, not just the violence against doctors. Aggression is all around – the institutions, the doctors, we must all do whatever it takes to check this. However hard we try nothing can take the role of family. I think that many parents say to themselves that television and computers is parenting enough for their children. That is something that I think creates a tendency towards aggression.”

English version: Milena Daynova