The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday condemned a knife attack that injured three nurses at a New Taipei City hospital by a COVID-19 patient on Monday, while vowing to support amendments proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to provide financial compensation to medical personnel in such cases.
Shung Ho Hospital vice president Cherng Yih-giun (程毅君) on Wednesday said that a nurse was cut in her belly, another was stabbed in the back and a third was wounded on her right palm.
The nurses, all in their 20s, were also traumatized, Cherng said, adding that the hospital would improve security.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The alleged assailant, a 62-year-old man surnamed Hung (洪), was transferred to the Armed Forces Hospital in Hsinchu City.
People were disheartened by the attack, DPP caucus director-general Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) told a news conference in Taipei.
“These medical professionals are on the front lines, working diligently to contain the pandemic. They need better protection and deserve financial compensation for being attacked and injured in the line of duty,” Liu said.
DPP legislators fully support the ministry’s proposed amendments, and would pass special budget items required for them, Liu said.
After the attack, ministry officials introduced amendments to the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法) to provide compensation for health workers who are injured, contract an illness or die while implementing disease control measures related to category 5 communicable diseases.
The proposals would provide financial compensation to health workers injured on the job, including paying their wages while undergoing treatment or during recuperation.
Article 74 of the act provides the basis for such compensation, DPP Legislator Huang Shih-chieh (黃世杰) said.
“In reacting to the extreme case of violence against three nurses, ministry officials are working on amendments to reinforce the protection of healthcare workers, and to provide more coverage for compensating them for medical expenditures and lost wages, along with providing subsidies for their children’s education costs,” Huang said.
The legislature in 2017 amended the Medical Care Act (醫療法) to impose more severe punishments for people who use violence, coercion or intimidation to cause serious injury to medical personnel, he said.
“This attack against these nurses is now under judicial investigation, and we request that it be completed as soon as possible,” he added.
A special division under the Ministry of Justice has been tasked to handle violence cases against medical personnel, and has already assigned a prosecutor to the New Taipei City case, while the National Police Agency has ordered police across the nation to enhance local patrols, Liu said.
“Police offices are mandated to be ready to swiftly respond to emergency calls. We must not permit violence to spread, to undermine our society’s safety net, held together by medical personnel,” Liu said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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