By Wen Shuping (温淑萍)
Issue 569, May 14
News, page 4 
Translated by Song Chunling
Original article:[Chinese]

How many policemen are required to keep doctors safe at China’s 5,242 top and second tier public hospitals?

Most hospital directors agree that three to five policemen in addition to their current security guards will cost them an extra 810 million yuan each year.

There has recently been serious violence between patients and hospital staff, and the Chinese Medical Doctor Association says that more than 10,000 staff are beaten each year.

In order to assure medical workers, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Security at the end of April called for higher tier public hospitals to hire policemen and set up offices for them.

According to health ministry’s plan, hospitals will pay for the policemen themselves.

“Before 2009, the unharmonious events in hospitals were thefts from patients and their companions,” said one ministry employee.

Many hospitals therefore reduced the number of their security guards in order to save costs. Guards, who used to be employed for tasks such as managing parking lots, are no longer available to deal with violent conflicts.

Hospitals’ outdated security system is one of the reasons why medical workers are frequently injured. According to the Ministry of Heath employee, particular hospitals can chose whether or not to set up police offices according to their own requirements.

“Security is important, but it’s more important to alleviate conflicts between patients and medical workers,” said the health ministry employee.