Harsh Reaction from Türk Sağlık-Sen to Rize Attack: "Violence in Health is a National Issue, Zero Tolerance is a Must!"

Turk Sağlık-Sen Headquarters issued a strong statement after a family physician and two employees of Pazar Family Health Center No. 1 in Pazar district of Rize were attacked. The union condemned the inhumane attack and called for the urgent implementation of concrete and uncompromising legal regulations to prevent violence in health care.

How Will Insecure Employees Produce Services?

Sending get well soon wishes to the health workers who were attacked, Türk Sağlık-Sen reiterated its demand for the most severe punishment for the attacker. The statement emphasized the deep concern for the safety of health workers:

"If our doctors, nurses and health workers do not feel safe, if they live and work in a state of fear for their lives, how will they produce services?" The fact that such horrible incidents have taken place shows how severe the sanctions should be and that measures should be taken at the highest level."

The union stated that health workers, who are worried about losing their own lives while trying to keep patients alive, no longer have the patience to tolerate. He emphasized that there is no other way to save health workers from this spiral of violence as soon as possible.

Request for Zero Tolerance and Pretrial Detention

Stating that the current regulation, which increases the penalty against violence in health and defines this crime as a categorical crime, is positive but insufficient, Türk Sağlık-Sen listed the concrete steps to be taken for a definitive solution and radical solution suggestions:

1. Declare a Zero Tolerance Area: Health institutions and organizations should be declared zero tolerance areas immediately.

2. Compromise on Punishments: It should be made impossible to defer or convert to money any crime committed in this area, and perpetrators should be punished only with prisonment.

3. Prison Trial: Prison trials should be applied without exception for perpetrators of violence against health workers.

4. Paid Public Health Services: Deterrent measures such as paid public health services for perpetrators of violence, except in emergencies, should be urgently implemented.

Turk Sağlık-Sen emphasized once again that it is not possible to prevent violence otherwise, therefore concrete steps should be taken as soon as possible for a definitive solution and the most severe penalties should be imposed.

"Violence in Healthcare is not only an issue of the Health Community, but of the whole country"

Underlining that violence in health is not a simple issue, the union stated that this situation is a fundamental problem that must be solved. Türk Sağlık-Sen concluded the statement with a call for social awareness:

"This issue is not only a matter for the health community, but for the whole country. It is the responsibility of all of us to react to what is happening. everyone should take a stand against violence in health."