On the occasion of the European Day against Attacks on Health Personnel, the subdelegate of the Government in Huesca, Carlos Campo, has chaired a coordination meeting between the health police interlocutors of the Civil Guard and the National Police, and representatives of the Seconded Police, the medical, nursing, pharmacy and veterinary colleges of the province, the Territorial Delegation of the Government of Aragon in Huesca, the Provincial Health and Health Service. The objective of this meeting has been to work on strengthening the application of Instruction 3/2017 of the Secretary of State for Security that establishes police measures to deal with attacks on health professionals.
Instruction 3/2017 of the Secretary of State for Security created in 2017 the figure of the health police interlocutors, responsible for promoting prevention and action against these cases. In the province of Huesca there is one on the part of the National Police and another on the part of the Civil Guard, to whom the subdelegate has thanked “their work of contact with health centers and their professionals.”
In the province of Huesca, the figures recorded by the National Police and the Civil Guard remain stable compared to previous years. During 2023, a single complaint was registered for assaulting health professionals, which occurred in the Sanitary Sector of Barbastro, and six police actions were opened for verbal assaults or threats, three in the National Police demarcation and three in the Civil Guard.
“The fact that the figures are low does not mean that it is a minor problem, because we know that there are many attacks that remain unreported. It is important for health professionals to take a step that is sometimes difficult, but that allows this problem to be visible. In addition to not leaving the aggression unanswered, a complaint also serves to prevent a future attack that may be received by another health worker,” said Campo.
On the part of the health interlocutors, the inspector of the National Police Emilio Latorre and the commander of the Civil Guard Óscar Vergara, it has been recalled that health professionals have at their disposal in the application AlertCops a specific SOS button for collegiates. This utility allows to give immediate notice to the State Security Forces and Bodies in case of emergency, a tool “especially useful for those professionals who work carrying out departures in the territory”.