Some speak of episodes of violence “punctual”. Other incivilities “recurring”tension “latents”. But almost all the caregivers we contacted agree on one observation: even though it still seems difficult for them to make an official report, the attacks they may suffer from patients during consultations are not no longer, as in the past, passed over in silence.
Insults, threats, physical attacks, theft, vandalism, etc.: 1,581 incidents were reported in 2023 to the National Council of the Order of Physicians, which keeps the annual census. Compared to the 120,000 private doctors, or the 60,000 practicing hospital practitioners, the figure weighs little. But in the twenty years that the order has been carrying out this survey, this is the first time that the increase has been so strong: it reaches 27% between 2022 and 2023 – after having already increased by 23% the previous year.
“This is unprecedented, argued Doctor Jean-Jacques Avrane, coordinator of the Security Observatory within the order, while presenting this data to the press on Tuesday, October 8. And the figures are completely minimized, the vast majority of practitioners do not declare [les violences subies], this is just the visible side of the iceberg. » The National Observatory of Violence in the Health Environment, an organization which reports to the Ministry of Health, and which takes into account reports from hospitals, recorded, in 2022, 18,768 reports from 368 establishments. Its results for 2023 are not yet known.
General practitioners are the most targeted
In the world of health, several recent attacks have left their mark. In Marseille, on August 12, a general practitioner was beaten up. Near Nantes, in September, a doctor was subjected to an attempted rape. Almost eighteen months ago, the attack on a nurse, Carène Mezino, fatally stabbed at the Reims University Hospital, sparked national emotion, and led the government to promise “zero tolerance”accompanied by a plan of around forty measures.
Women, according to figures from the order of doctors, are slightly over-represented, and account for 56% of declared victims, in 2023 as in 2022. The type of incidents reported remains stable: almost three quarters (73%) fall under verbal attacks or threats, 8% mention physical attacks, 8% thefts or attempted thefts, 7% acts of vandalism… Nearly three-quarters of the attacks targeted liberals, and 22% hospital workers.
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