«We have to turn this around and we need a cultural change. We live in a society where dialogue has clearly deteriorated. Insult replaces argument and respect has been progressively displaced towards constant tension,» denounced the president of the Medical College Organization, Tomás Cobo.
This is how Cobo expressed himself during the presentation of the data this Wednesday at the ‘Day of aggressions against healthcare professionals’, where the 15th anniversary of the Observatory was celebrated.
Thus, there were 847 aggressions last year among the 312,312 registered doctors. This number of aggressions is higher than in 2023 (769) and 2022 (843), which was the highest data in the registry created in 2010. In total, since the start of the registry in 2010, 8,108 aggressions have been reported.
Of all the aggressions suffered in 2024, 62.40% were towards women and 37.60% towards men, a trend that consolidates the recent years where women suffer the majority of aggressions.
Regarding the location of the aggressions, in the Primary Care setting, 47.7% of cases occur, which is four points higher than in 2023. Behind this, hospitals are at 17.9%, a decrease of two points, ahead of hospital emergencies (9.5%) and Primary Care emergencies (8.2%), which have slightly decreased.
Additionally, Ceuta is the place where the highest percentage of aggressions were recorded in 2024. Specifically, 18.62 aggressions per 1,000 registered doctors, followed by Extremadura (5.80), Melilla (5.65), and the Canary Islands (5.08). On the other hand, the regions with the lowest percentages are Aragon (1.28), Madrid (1.42), Castilla-La Mancha (1.69), and Asturias (2.37).
Regarding the different types of aggressions suffered, almost half of the cases (48%) involved threats and coercion, mainly towards women (65%). On the other hand, 11% of the total were physical assaults, with 71% of them suffered by women and 29% by men.
Also, out of all the reported aggressions, 14% resulted in sick leave, one percentage point higher than the previous year.
THE MAIN CAUSE: MEDICAL DISAGREEMENTS
The report prepared by the OMC highlights that healthcare-related causes account for 8 out of 10 aggressions. Within these healthcare-related causes, the main cause of aggressions is disagreement with the medical care received, which stands at 50.9%, although slightly decreasing.
Professional disagreements (17.3%) and reports not in line with expectations (11.6%) are also reasons for aggressions, equal to issues related to work incapacity (11.6%).
As for the structural causes of aggressions, those not related to medical care or healthcare issues are increasing compared to the previous year. Among the reasons, the time taken to be attended stands out at 65.9%, followed by system malfunctions at 34.1%.
The data on the typology of aggressors in 2024 show that they are mainly scheduled patients (46.5%), followed by unscheduled patients (32%) and companions (19.8%). Additionally, 52.5% of the aggressors are between 40 and 60 years old, 34.4% are under 40 years old, and 13.1% are over 60 years old.
LESS THAN HALF OF REPORTED AGGRESSIONS ARE REPORTED
Doctors have emphasized that less than half of the aggressions reported to medical colleges are reported (43.5%). For this reason, the OMC has emphasized the need to do so in order to achieve more convictions and stop repeat offenders.
«Possibly this situation occurs because they think that the report will not serve any purpose, except to expose them in a broader environment than we think,» Cobo pointed out.
Additionally, about 93 professionals have requested legal protection from the Social Protection Foundation of the OMC through the policy with A.M.A Seguros.