The year 2023 saw acts of violence against doctors soar: + 27% of acts, for a total of 1,581 reports, including 147 in Occitanie. An “extremely worrying” assessment according to the National Order of Physicians, which published the document this Tuesday, October 8. General practitioners are the most affected.
Traditionally delivered in October, the results of the annual Observatory on the safety of doctors were published this Tuesday, October 8, a few days after a 20-year-old woman was sentenced to one year in prison for having committed violence against a general practitioner from the northern districts of Marseille who had refused a prescription.
The findings of the Order of Physicians, which carried out the survey with the assistance of Ipsos, are “alarming”. “The investigation, based on declarations of incidents and attacks reported to the departmental councils of the Order, reports 1,581 cases in 2023, compared to 1,244 in 2022”an increase of +27%.
In Occitania, where 147 incidents are recorded in 2023, the increase is even higher: + 41%.
Hérault (38 declarations), Haute-Garonne (32 declarations) and Gard (25) are the most impacted departments. In Aude, there were 12 incidents, and 10 in the Pyrénées-Orientales. Aveyron (3 declarations) and Lozère (1 declaration) are much less affected.
Fewer incidents in rural areas
The study of 1581 declarations, an unprecedented figure since the establishment of the observatory in 2003 (638 incidents had then been declared), shows that general practitioners “are the most affected”they represent “64% of declarations”.
Among specialists, psychiatrists (3% of attacks), ophthalmologists, occupational physicians, obstetrician-gynecologists and cardiologists (2% for each of the specialties) are the most concerned.
54% of victims work in urban areas in the city center, in the suburbs (18%), and 24% in rural areas. The incidents mainly take place as part of a city exercise (72%). Only 0.5% of attacks take place in an emergency department.
Women are more affected: 56% of attacks
And “complaint relating to support” is the first reason for aggression (38%) before the “refusal to prescribe a medication or stop work” (19%), the “falsification de document” (12 %), “waiting time considered excessive” (10%) and theft (7%).
In 2022 as in 2023, women (56% of attacks) are more affected even though they represent 50% of doctors.
“Incidents range from verbal attacks and threats (73%) to physical attacks (8%), including theft (8%) and vandalism (7%).” further specifies the Order. The use of a weapon remains exceptional: 2% of attacks.
Barely “31% of doctors who reported violence to the Order filed a complaint, and 7% filed a complaint”.
“Faced with this alarming situation, concerted action by all stakeholders in the health system is necessary to guarantee the safety of doctors in the exercise of their profession,” alerts the observatory in a press release.
