Palestinian government drafts law to protect its doctors
A draft law to protect doctors and medical staff is currently underway in the West Bank, amid increasing physical and verbal attacks on hospital staff.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Doctors Syndicate signed July 22 a bill to protect medical staff working in hospitals and medical centers and to incriminate any attack on its members. The provisions of the bill are currently being drafted.
During the meeting, the Doctors Syndicate suspended all protest acts it had announced July 21, including halting its work in government hospitals, and resumed full provision of medical services to citizens.
On July 21, the Doctors Syndicate suspended work at Thabet Thabet Government Hospital in Tulkarm, after a patient’s relative physically attacked a doctor in the emergency department at the hospital. The doctor suffered bruises to the head, and the hospital decided to suspend all work the next day.
Attacks on doctors, medical staff, nurses and technical staff in hospitals in the West Bank have been on the rise lately. Relatives accompanying patients to hospitals interfere in doctors’ work and refuse to abide by hospital regulations, leading to arguments that often evolve into assaults.
