'Guardian angels' to protect Chinese doctors from patients

Beijing hospitals are to recruit volunteers to help prevent attacks on doctors as an increasing number become targets for violent and angry patients

Hospitals in Beijing will recruit 1,500 "guardian angels" to protect their doctors from violent attacks by patients.



In recent years, angry patients have killed a number of Chinese doctors, often citing frustration at how they have been handled by the healthcare system.
In the latest case, a 45-year-old man from Jiangsu province stabbed his doctor to death on Tuesday because he was unhappy with a circumcision operation. "(He) was dissatisfied with the treatment outcome and the medical expenses," the state media reported.
Doctors and nurses in hospitals are violently attacked every two weeks on average, the state media said, by patients angry at long waiting times, high medical bills and haughty or uncaring doctors. Many hospitals now have security officers on their premises.
The campaign in Beijing will recruit volunteer students, medical staff and other patients to act as buffers between doctors and patients, defusing arguments and smoothing tensions, suggested Xinhua, the state news agency.