Apparently, violence in health care facilities is a problem in Israel worthy of its own law.
The JPost reported today that a man attacked his estranged wife and hospital staff in the maternity ward. In May they reported on 3 brothers of a woman who was placed in a emergency shelter for domestic violence victims who went to the social worker’s home with clubs and iron bars and beat up her husband and other family members. According to a report at the Health Policy Monitor:
A comprehensive study conducted in 2003/4 on violence in emergency rooms in Israel (Landau et al. 2004) revealed that 75% of the medical staff reported a violent incident in the past year. Most reports related to verbal violence, but 29% reported threats and 16% physical violence...
This problem receives growing media attention; it was debated in the parliamentary committee for work welfare and health in 2007. During 2008, several academic conferences were dedicated to the issue and discussed measures to address it.
