Hospital group reports ten attacks on employees per day

At the Berlin hospital group Vivantes, employees are victims of insults, threats or physical attacks an average of ten times a day. In about three quarters of the cases it doesn't just involve verbal violence.

Weapons such as knives or pistols are involved in an incident around once a week. This was reported by the “B.Z.” citing information from Vivantes managing director Johannes Danckert on Rbb24 Inforadio.

“Three quarters of the attacks were not limited to words, but were physical,” said Danckert. The incidents involving weapons include, for example, “a knife or a pistol”. According to the head of the clinic, the situation has worsened significantly in recent years. While such incidents were rare in emergency rooms around 15 years ago, they are now “virtually part of everyday business”.

Employees in emergency rooms and psychiatric facilities are particularly affected. According to the clinic company, around two thirds of the recorded incidents occur in the psychiatric area. Attacks there are often related to acute mental illnesses.

"Two thirds of the incidents come from psychiatric hospitals. These are, for example, people who attack nursing staff in a state of psychosis," Vivantes spokesman Christoph Lang told the "B.Z."

In addition, according to the company, there are also attacks in the rescue centers by patients who are dissatisfied with the way their treatment is going. The triggers include, among other things, longer waiting times. Individual patients tried to use threats to obtain preferential or faster care. Weapons are sometimes used to put pressure on the staff.

Danckert also sees this development as a social problem. He cited a “general brutalization of social mores” as one reason for the increasing aggressiveness. The violence is not limited to insults or threats, but is often directed directly against the employees.

The numbers cited by Vivantes also show that the incidents have different causes. While in emergency rooms there are, among other things, disputes about waiting times and the sequence of medical treatments, exceptional situations related to illness play an important role in psychiatric facilities.

The hospital group has expanded its protective measures in view of the security situation. Meanwhile, according to “B.Z.” All Vivantes emergency rooms are staffed 24 hours a day. The company says it bears the costs for the security service itself. "Our security guards are permanently on site. We pay for this out of our own pocket," company spokesman Lang told the newspaper.

Employees also have access to alarm buttons that they can use to request support in dangerous situations. According to Vivantes, there is a direct connection to the police.

According to the report, violence against hospital staff is not just a Berlin problem. Doctors and nurses are also reporting increasing attacks in clinics across the country.