Dear readers, this week I want to talk to you about a particular topic that has been discussed a lot in recent times.
Recently, television news and newspapers have covered episodes of assault on medical and healthcare personnel of several Italian hospitals, thus highlighting the seriousness of the situation that healthcare personnel are having to face.
Kicks, punches, slaps but also blows with an ax and a baseball bat are just some of the tools used by patients or patients’ relatives to take – in their view – “justice” for themselves.
The exponential increase in violent conduct and threats towards emergency room or 118 personnel and the reiteration of the same has made Government intervention is essential and has been loudly requested by members of the sector for years.
On the basis of this, the Legislative Decree no. 137/2024 composed of 4 articles introducing changes to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and this in order to more effectively combat violence against medical and healthcare personnel.
But what are the new features planned?
The decree introduces a particular case of the crime of damagearranging the imprisonment from one to five years and a fine of up to €10,000 for anyone, inside or in the vicinity of residential or semi-residential health or social-health facilities, public or private, with violence to the person or with threats destroys, disperses, deteriorates or renders, in whole or in part, unusable things existing therein or in any case intended for the health or social-health service.
Still, the sanctions provided for in the event of injuries to personnel carrying out a healthcare or socio-healthcare profession are also extended to the hypothesis of injuries to complementary security personnel.
Art. 583 quater of the Criminal Code in fact it provides for the imprisonment from two to five years in the event of injuries caused to personnel carrying out a healthcare or socio-healthcare profession in the exercise or due to the functions or service, as well as to anyone who carries out auxiliary care, healthcare or rescue activities functional to the performance of said professions – or, for effect of the Decree in question, to complementary security personnel – in the exercise or because of such activities.
Imprisonment rises and passes from four to ten years in the case of serious injuries e from eight to sixteen years in the case of very serious injuries.
The prediction of thecompulsory arrest in flagrante delicto that is to say deferred arrest for crimes of personal injury against healthcare workers and damage to healthcare facilities just in case the material perpetrator of the conduct is proven to be such by virtue of unequivocal videographic or digital evidence.
WHAT DO I THINK?
I believe that the problem of attacks on healthcare personnel is evident and very serious, a circumstance which makes an intervention of the caliber of that of Legislative Decree 137/2024 absolutely necessary – but perhaps not sufficient.
The problems of the healthcare system, strictly connected to the phenomenon of aggression and violence, certainly cannot be resolved with a tightening of sanctions or with the provision of new types of crime: further interventions are therefore needed to address the deficits of the sector in a transversal way.
This is a legal information and dissemination column which has the sole purpose of wanting to contribute at a social level to the knowledge of one’s rights as it is my belief that only in this way is it possible to effectively protect them from a legal point of view.
If you have any questions or want to suggest a topic for me to talk about, you can do so by writing to me at the e-mail address [email protected] or by filling out the form you find on the site www.studiolegalefois.com.
ADV. FULVIA SOMETIMES
