71 health workers subjected to violence per day during the pandemic

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The Health and Social Service Laborers Union (SES) Ankara Branch has released a report titled "Report on Violence in Healthcare".

Sharing the report with the public by releasing a written statement, the SES Ankara Branch has briefly said:

"While our grief for our friends whom we lost and are still losing due to COVID-19 is still fresh, a stadium full of health laborers were subjected to violence in 2020, also with the effect of the decaying healthcare system."

Accusing the Health Ministry of failing to draft an effective law against violence in healthcare, the union has indicated that "what healthcare workers want is not applause, but working conditions that comply with human dignity and are away from violence and conflicts."

3 health workers subjected to violence per hour

Some highlights from the report are as follows:

* During the pandemic, 540 health laborers lost their lives due to COVID-19.

* According to the data of the Ministry of Health, while 46,276 people used the code white (to report incidents of violence) by the end of 2019, this number was 72,158 by the end of 2020.

* Considering that all health laborers started using the code white starting from 2015, only in 2020, the year of the pandemic, the number of reports with the code white increased by 56 percent.

* The year 2020 saw 25,882 code white alerts.

* While 71 health laborers were subjected to violence per day in 2020, it accounts for three health laborers per hour.

What is code white? The purpose of a Code White is to identify an actual or potential violent or out-of-control person and activate the appropriate staff to respond with a patient/person-centered and therapeutic response. How to use it in Turkey? Healthcare workers in Turkey use this system by either dialing 1111 from the intrahospital line or calling "113", which offers services 24/7.

(AS/SD)