The joint statement on hospital security comes after nearly 20,000 medical disputes have taken place between hospitals and patients. In recent years, some patients have resorted to violent attacks when they are not satisfied with the medical services received.
And doctors have become their top targets. CCTV reporter Wang Xinye tells how a doctor in a hospital in Beijing was stabbed from behind.
Doctor Zhao Lizhong has been coming in and out of the hospital for the past 10 years. But a recent violent attack has turned him into a patient.
Two weeks ago, a man rushed into Doctor Zhao’s office and stabbed him in the neck with a knife.
Zhao Lizhong, doctor of Aerospace Center Hospital in Beijing, said, "I felt first a heavy blow on my neck, and then the unstoppable blood. My fellow colleague stuck a finger into my wound but couldn’t tell how deep the cut was."
The rescuer turned rescuee. Two days later, when he was out of danger, Dr. Zhao spoke on a microblog.
Zhao said, "I don’t hate the attacker. I hope my blood serves as an alarm to the public to pay attention to the worsening relations between patients and doctors. I hope medical staff can work with dignity and their lives not be threatened, which will eventually benefit the public."
His words were shared by nearly 85 hundred sympathetic netizenst. Yet he cannot tell the truth to his 6 year old daughter, so his wife helped him to fabricate a story.
Zhao Lizhong's wife said, "We told her 3 days later that daddy was careless and got stabbed by a tree branch."
During an interview with CCTV, doctor Zhao said he did not know the attacker, and assumed he was not targeted. So far the attacker has been detained by police and an investigation is underway.