Por Redaccion 
El Servicio Andaluz de Salud (SAS) continues to work on the implementation of initiatives aimed at addressing aggressions and improving the support and care for professionals who are victims of these acts. Among the measures, the implementation of security devices in the centers stands out, with a total of 53,700 devices by the end of 2024. Of these, more than 4,400 were security cameras, in addition to more than 35,000 alert devices in consultations and over 7,500 individual alarms. Along with this, there is a significant focus on training and education of professionals to deal with these episodes.
In this way, a total of 136,754 professionals have completed the Control in Conflict Situations Course and 55,285 professionals have participated in the Prevention and Care Plan against Aggressions to Professionals Course of the public healthcare system of Andalusia. Additionally, 872 professionals have already been trained as ‘Guide Professionals’, a key figure with the aim of accompanying, advising on procedures, and providing support to the worker who suffers an aggression. It is also worth mentioning the editions of in-person workshops that are held in districts, healthcare management areas, and hospitals, where since they started in 2017, they have had the participation of nearly 1,300 professionals.
All these awareness and knowledge measures of the Prevention and Care Plan for Aggressions, updated in 2020, with a clear message of zero tolerance, are allowing a better record of the different episodes. In this way, verbal aggressions of different intensities including shouts and insults, as well as aggressions caused by patients with cognitive impairment or mental health problems, are being counted alongside physical aggressions.
The Plan also provides quick and efficient channels for the person who suffers an aggression, whether verbal or physical, to not be alone moments after being attacked. Additionally, psychological support is provided for as long as necessary, and legal advice for those who decide to report. Physical aggression or serious intimidation against healthcare professionals in the performance of their public duties is considered a crime of assault by the courts, and sentences have been handed down in different cases with penalties ranging from 12 months to 3 years in prison. In fact, during 2024, SAS lawyers provided assistance in 197 cases, resulting in 94 convictions, 34 of them classified as a crime of assault.
All these actions and many others included in the SAS Aggressions Prevention and Care Plan are always carried out in close collaboration and coordination between healthcare centers, Health and Consumer Affairs delegations, SAS central services, and the Health and Consumer Affairs Department, providing continuous information to trade unions.
Aggressions registration data
According to the Center Aggressions Computerized Registration (RIAC), there were a total of 362 physical aggressions (19.4% of the total) and 1,504 non-physical aggressions to professionals in the public healthcare centers of Andalusia in 2024. Of the total registered aggressions, 47.48% took place in hospitals and 52.52% in Primary Care centers. Following the plan’s guidelines, cases of physical violence or serious threats caused by psychiatric patients or those with cognitive impairment are considered as an aggression; however, a system has been established for them to be filtered and receive differentiated treatment, both in the registry and in the subsequent actions carried out. Thus, of the total registered aggressions, over 20% (20.3%) are committed by individuals with mental health problems or cognitive impairment, a percentage that rises to 51.6% when it comes to physical aggressions.
By provinces, Almería recorded 20 physical aggressions and 141 non-physical ones; Cádiz 61 physical (282 non-physical); Córdoba, 36 physical (126 non-physical); Granada 45 physical (149 non-physical); Huelva, six physical (60 non-physical); Jaén, 24 physical (120 non-physical); Málaga, 69 physical (249 non-physical), and Seville, 101 physical (378 non-physical).
By gender, women are the most targeted (72.45% of the total); by professional profile, almost 80% of the aggressions are directed at healthcare personnel, mainly professionals in medicine and nursing.
The Andalusian Health Service has invited professionals from different hospitals and healthcare centers throughout Andalusia to join on March 12th the European Day against Aggressions to Healthcare Professionals by reading the Institutional Declaration that was sent to the centers this past year, with the goal of demonstrating full and explicit commitment to professionals and zero tolerance against aggressions in this healthcare setting through a common message.