UNB: Patient and His Relatives Attack Doctor and Nurse at Ruzinov Hospital

Bratislava, 5 January (TASR) - A patient and his relatives attacked a doctor and a nurse in the accident and emergency ward at Ruzinov Hospital in Bratislava on Saturday, 3 January, TASR was told by spokesperson for the University Hospital in Bratislava (UNB) Eva Kliska on Monday. According to her, the attack was thwarted thanks to the rapid intervention of a private security service (SBS) and the police, and the medical staff didn't suffer any physical injuries. The police have charged the man with the crime of making dangerous threats. Kliska elaborated that the incident took place on Saturday morning in accident and emergency, where the patient had been brought by the emergency medical service. "The patient was already aggressive when his blood was being taken, yelling at the nurse that she didn't know what she was doing and that it was hurting him. His aggression escalated when the nurse wanted to test him for COVID-19. His wife burst in and also yelled at the doctor and nurse. The patient began threatening to kill the attending medical staff, saying that they would wait for them outside," said the spokeswoman. Kliska added that the doctor immediately called SBS. "Meanwhile, other relatives of the patient stormed into the treatment room, shouting at our staff and making threats. The patient cornered the doctor, repeatedly threatening to kill her, then grabbed the nurse by the throat. Thanks to the rapid intervention of SBS and 15 police officers - an emergency motorised unit, the attack was successfully repelled and the victims weren't physically harmed," she said. The spokesperson added that the patient was subsequently taken away by the police. "He's now been charged with the crime of making dangerous threats when the target of the threats was a protected person - a health-care worker," she stated. According to UNB director Alexander Mayer, threatening staff with death has become a common occurrence in recent times. "Staff are subjected to verbal abuse, threats, spitting and even physical attacks every day simply because they want to help patients," he noted, adding that he'll use all available means to prevent such incidents from recurring. Kliska specified that over the past year, SBS at UNB have dealt with 350 such incidents, including 212 physical attacks on staff. am/df