Recently, relatives of a patient who died in a hospital in Talgar (a town near Almaty) beat medical workers who refused to return the body to them. This is not the first case of violence against medical workers in Kazakhstan.
On September 19, 2023, the ambulance brought a 64-year-old patient to Talgar Central District Hospital. He had a heart attack. Medical workers could not save the man. Sons of the deceased demanded to give them the father’s body. When they heard the refusal, they beat the emergency physician and the nurse, both of whom were taken to intensive care. The relatives stole the body and moved it out on a mortuary cot from the hospital. The men are detained now and could face up to 12 years of imprisonment.
In 2022, gastroenterologist Yury Shumkov died in Almaty. A patient shot him from a shotgun. The shooter was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Ambulance workers and polyclinic workers have been repeatedly attacked by patients’ aggressive relatives.
How can doctors be protected? CABAR.asia has spoken to experts on mechanisms to be introduced.
Weaknesses
Sociologist-lawyer, Doctor of Law, University of Leicester, UK, Khalida Azhigulova, has told first about the origins of aggression towards medical workers. According to her, patients or their relatives, who commit violence again doctors, are highly likely to behave the same in their family. Aggressors bring violence from their family to the society because they face no adequate punishment and automatically apply it to any person, including doctors.
According to Azhigulova, Kazakhstan has specific mechanisms of protection of doctors now.
“In case of physical violence against doctors, general provisions apply. In particular, articles 73-1 (intended infliction of low harm) and 73-2 (beating) of the Code of Administrative Offences or provisions of the Criminal Code in case of severe or medium harm, threats, and hooliganism with use of violence,” the lawyer said.
Member of Parliament, candidate of medical sciences Guldara Nurumova, focused on the same thing, i.e. lack of special legal protection. However, according to her, doctors work in the risk zone. “It all should be specified in law,” the MP said.
Full–scale protection
Amendments to the Criminal Code are under consideration now. They will specify not only criminal offences of doctors, but also offences of third parties against medical workers, including obstruction of a medical worker’s activity and use of violence against a medical worker.
“This is necessary because such incidents as in Talgar hospital disrupt the process of hospital admission, including emergency cases,” Guldara Nurumova said.
Khalida Azhigulova agrees that it is necessary ‘to introduce additional article to the Criminal Code for the use of violence against health workers.’
Akmaral Tursunova, co-founder of Medsupportkz medical community, healthcare attorney, expects coherence and consistency from the state regarding topical issues.
“In other words, we need to create a system, where destructive behaviour, disrespect would be penalised at least by 30 minimum calculation indices (217.35 dollars), and this penalty should be inevitable,” the attorney said.
The issue of security of medical facilities remains unsolved.
“Today, security agencies keep an eye only on the building and property, but not on the staff. It is the law. Agencies are not responsible for the staff,” said Guldara Nurumova.
According to her, now doctors in Kazakhstan also face cyberbullying. So, Nurumova said, it is important to prohibit early distribution of information about incidents that discredit a doctor’s reputation on media and social media before the official investigation is over.
Another opinion
Patients have their opinion on the situation. Tatiana Yermash, president of Kazakhstan Fund of Assistance to Patients with Multiple Sclerosis, noted with regret that she has met patients who have had serious health issues due to doctor’s fault. Therefore, she believes that every specialist must also be responsible for their offences. “In fact, we do not have such a thing now. It is necessary to protect doctors, but we should not ignore the patients,” Yermash said.
According to her, comfortable conditions should be created in medical facilities. Then doctors would be able to find time for patients, improve their qualifications, without thinking about how to make ends meet.
“Conditions created by the state must be protection of both doctors and patients. They would let keep conflicts to a minimum,” Yermash said about the balance.
Main photo: Freepik.com