Three out of 10 social media institutions have emergency exits in their offices due to increased violence.

Three out of 10 NHS facilities have installed emergency doors in their offices due to rising violence against professionals, which has also resulted in the installation of 828 panic buttons, according to data released this Friday.

Speaking to the Lusa agency, Ministry of Health security coordinator Sergio Barata stressed the commitment of the National Health Service (SNS) institutions to strengthen security measures, given the increase in violence against health workers.

“In terms of strengthening the security measures, most of the SNS institutions have taken an active part,” said Sergio Barata at the end of the online forum dedicated to the year of the Public Security Police “Saude Safe” program. .

The official said social media establishments have 828 panic buttons, a number that has increased from 292 in 2019.

Sergio Barata also indicated that in 2022, about 30% of healthcare facilities had emergency doors or emergency exit schemes.

“We want security measures to always be consistent with ongoing risk assessments, meaning that resources must be used efficiently and effectively. If the risk is insignificant in a given place, it is not worth establishing measures for this. ,” He said.

Ministry of Health security data shows that the number of cases of violence against healthcare workers increased by 70% in 2022 compared to 2021, with 1,632 cases reported.

The official emphasized that many of these complaints are “conflict situations that do not fall under the criminal qualification.”

Of the 1,632 complaints filed last year, nearly 200 were prosecuted.

“There are many situations where people are involved in a discussion that interrupts medical services and creates a sense of insecurity, but you cannot intervene from a criminal point of view. We should think about other forms of intervention for the person who enters the office where they are supposed to provide medical care, but not offensively, it is rude, screaming, causing a feeling of insecurity among specialists,” he said.

The cabinet coordinator defends the existence of other legal instruments that “allow to intervene and punish those people who create situations of insecurity.”

According to Sergio Barat, the majority of complaints are related to psychological violence, accounting for 69% of all cases, namely injuries and threats, with physical violence accounting for 10% of complaints.

For the same official, the increase in disclosures of situations of violence against medical workers is “the result of the work done,” but still “there is a margin that will allow us to reveal more situations.”

“The platform that we have still needs some improvements to make it more accessible to healthcare professionals and to make it easier to get other types of metrics that are causes of violence,” he said, given that “unfortunately the numbers don’t matter. will grow.” but there will be a better characterization of reality.

In turn, the coordinator of the Action Plan for the Prevention of Violence in the Health Sector of the Directorate General of Health (DGS), André Biscay, told Lusa that the number of complaints should already be very close to reality.

“We have made a very large initial effort to notify. We have already been waiting for this increase to happen,” he said, stressing that “now the goal is to try to start reducing this number, but “it will not be possible to avoid everything.” “.

André Vizcaya also said that the technological aspects of the National Incident Notification System (NOTIFICA), the DGS electronic platform where health professionals can report episodes of violence, should be improved.