Physicians decry verbal and physical ‘assaults’ on them

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‘What is currently happening is unacceptable’

KUWAIT CITY, July 17: Incidents of repeated attacks on the medical staff have opened the ‘wounds’ of doctors which are difficult to heal with time, after a recent incident that happened at the Farwaniya Hospital, and the doctors feel this was like adding insult to injury after the deliberate smear campaign that was launched against the doctors of the Ministry of Health who worked hard to raise awareness among the residents and citizens regarding the vaccination against the coronavirus. Instead of praising the efforts exerted by the medical personnel they were heaped with abuse and sometimes physical violence against them.

In this context, the General Surgery Consultant at the Mubarak Hospital, Dr Fatima Khaja, said the largest share of smear campaigns were seen on Twitter, after she supported the Ministry of Health in raising awareness and the importance of vaccination against the virus and despite the support of her colleagues for her and standing by her side to get over this crisis, the bitterness of reality and the failure of officials were more than a word of praise could be cured. Commenting on the recent attack, Khaja said, the series of attacks against doctors in word and deed is old and continuous, and that the Ministry of Health and representatives of doctors are unfortunately aware of this, but have yet to take serious steps to protect doctors by providing security in hospitals.

Security
On her Twitter account she said in neighboring countries, whoever thinks of raising his hand on the doctor, the security intervenes immediately, the person is handcuffed and sent to the competent authorities and no one is allowed to play the game of psychology and circumstances of the patient’s family. There is no justification and leniency with this kind of act under any circumstances, and if “we were other countries, no one would have dared to attack the doctor, because the security forces would have intervened immediately.” She said the doctors since the awareness campaign was launched are being described as masons, fascists, vaccine delegates, charlatans, vampires, butchers, thugs and the list goes endless. The general surgeon at the Farwaniya Hospital, Dr Musaed Al-Wadani said most of the attacks have exceeded the limits and the surprising thing is the wrong-doers are not punished.

What is currently happening is unacceptable, he said. On his Twitter account he said he was exposed to many verbal abuses during his career and that he overcame most of them by not responding and some with the appropriate response, but what is currently happening in the form of verbal and physical abuse cannot be accepted. Family doctor, a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Dr Hassan Al-Rasheed said what is happening is dangerous intellectual invasion that affects the reputation and dignity of doctors. He continued saying, “Yes, we have some doctors who do not have the art of communicating with the patient, but everyone must understand that this happens only in exceptional cases. As for the vast majority of colleagues, they have a high degree of responsibility, stressing that doctors cannot work in an environment in which they do not feel safe and secure.” By Marwa Bahrawi Al-Seyassah, Arab Times Staff

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