North Macedonia doctors, nurses protest hospital assaults

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Hundreds of doctors and nurses from North Macedonia’s public hospitals have rallied in the capital to demand better security after a series of assaults on hospital personnel by patients and relatives.

Health care providers protesting in Skopje on Wednesday threatened to go on strike if the government didn’t hire hospital security guards. Similar protests were held in other cities.

The country’s medical association says it has recorded 15 cases of violence against state hospital workers this year, with at least one doctor severely injured. The association says there were five such cases over the previous decade.

The association conceded that some doctors demanding bribes for their service angers the public. It says the government could address corruption by paying hospital personnel more.