Beijing police get green light to use weapons to protect doctors from attackers in hospitals
Authorities launch year-long campaign to stop persistent violence against medical staff by disgruntled patients and relatives
The Beijing municipal government has authorised police to use weapons if necessary to defend medical staff from violent attacks, state media reported.
Police in Beijing will be allowed to use their weapons to defend medical staff from violent attacks, state media reported.
Officials announced the move as they launched year-long crackdown on hospital violence, mainly by disgruntled patients or their relatives, which in more serious cases doctors and nurses have been seriously injured or even killed.
The attacks have taken a toll on the profession. Faced with constant risks to their personal safety, morale among medical staff on the mainland has reached rock-bottom, and fewer high school graduates are choosing careers in medicine and health care.
Although the central government launched a campaign against hospital violence three years ago after a patient stabbed a doctor to death in Wenzhou, one of first such incidents, crimes involving medical disputes are still common in hospitals across the country.