Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis has confirmed that a nurse was attacked by a patient during a shift at the emergency department of Red Cross Hospital, giving his account of the incident in a post on the platform X.
Georgiadis said the incident took place in the early morning hours, at the end of the general shift on August 7. According to the minister, the patient was lying on a stretcher waiting to be examined when, for a reason still unknown, she attacked the nurse who was carrying out her duties in the emergency area.
The minister said the nurse was beaten, and police were called to the scene. The patient was arrested, and Georgiadis said the nurse has filed a criminal complaint against her.
Nurse examined and sent home
After the attack, the nurse was examined by hospital doctors, who determined she could leave and return home, Georgiadis said. The Red Cross Hospital administration granted her five days of leave, and the minister said arrangements have been made for her to stay off work for as long as needed to recover physically and mentally from the attack.
Georgiadis wrote in his post that hands should be kept off National Health System staff, adding that on these days, when most people are away on holiday, they are the ones on duty.
Union president's account
Michalis Giannakos, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN), had earlier spoken about the nurse's injuries. According to Giannakos, the patient was on a stretcher in the examination area when she was asked to wait, since patients whose lives were in immediate danger had to be seen first. The situation quickly spiralled out of control.
Giannakos said the patient got up from the stretcher and moved toward the nurse. She grabbed the nurse by the hair, punched her, and slammed her head against a door, causing injuries. The nurse managed to get out of the examination room and tried to get away from the woman, but according to POEDIN the attack did not stop there. The patient followed her, grabbed her by the hair again and attacked her a second time, causing the nurse to hit her head against another door.
Giannakos said the nurse was fortunate not to have suffered more serious injuries. She sustained blows and injuries to the head and was in a state of severe shock, he said.
Full account from the union president
In his detailed statement, Giannakos said the beating took place at the Red Cross Hospital emergency department that morning and was suffered by a trainee nurse. He said he spoke with her directly and that she told him the patient tried twice to kill her, and that she was lucky to be alive.
Giannakos said two guards were present but did not intervene because physical contact with a patient is prohibited, and he questioned how staff are supposed to be protected under those conditions. He said the incident occurred between roughly 6:00 and 6:30 in the morning, and that the nurse, who specializes in intensive care and emergency medicine, had been on duty overnight into the morning.
According to Giannakos, the patient rose from the stretcher, targeted the nurse and tried to strike her violently, grabbing her hair hard enough to pull some out, punching her, and hitting her head against a door. When the nurse got outside the examination room, the patient followed, seized her hair again, pulled more of it out, and struck her head against another door.
Union calls for dedicated security police
Giannakos praised the hospital administrator's response. He said the administrator contacted the nurse that day and granted her five days of leave, and as much time as needed, to help her recover from the shock and the injuries.
Giannakos also renewed a call for the reinstatement of a specialized police security corps for hospital staff, which he said used to exist but now has only a small number of remaining officers, most having retired. He argued that private security companies cannot guarantee staff safety if guards are barred from physical contact with patients even when a colleague is being beaten and her life is in danger.
