Alarming increase in security at hospitals.

(Baonghean)With high crowds and numerous loopholes, hospitals are prime targets for theft and disruption. In particular, there have been recent incidents of newborn baby abductions at hospitals. This necessitates enhanced security measures to ensure the safety and well-being of patients' families, patients themselves, and medical staff.

Security guards are strictly controlling access cards at Nghe An Friendship General Hospital.

Nghe An Friendship General Hospital is one of the hospitals with the highest number of people entering and leaving, averaging over 3,000 people per day. This poses a significant challenge to controlling and ensuring security and order within the hospital, especially since criminals always have many tricks to outsmart the security forces and guards. "The most common method is disguising oneself," said Mr. Nguyen Huu Thanh, Deputy Head of the security team.

Typically, to avoid attracting the attention of patients' families and law enforcement, thieves often infiltrate hospitals posing as genuine visitors. Sometimes they bring sugar, milk, or fruit to blend in easily with the visiting rooms. Or sometimes they enter the examination area, buying examination slips like normal people. Then, taking advantage of the crowded area where they pay and get receipts, they easily slash and pickpocket. There are also cases where they create fake patient ID cards and clothing to easily enter and exit the hospital. Patients mistake them for visitors and are therefore unsuspecting. When patients need to leave the hospital, the thieves easily steal their belongings. Even more brazenly, they snatch mobile phones when patients are distracted or swap motorcycles parked nearby. At Nghe An Friendship General Hospital, dozens of theft cases are detected each year; in 2013 alone, 33 cases of pickpocketing and robbery were discovered. Two cases involved the theft of staff motorcycles and one case involved the theft of a customer's motorcycle. Mr. Vi Van Truong, from Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district, was caring for his brother in the hallway of the trauma department when Tran Xuan Phuong from Hung Hoa commune took advantage of the situation to steal his phone. Later, Phuong went down to the obstetrics department and stole another phone before being caught. Another case involved a thief brazenly breaking into the hospital's network room, stealing four computer monitors.

Besides theft, disturbances by strangers or family members in hospitals are also quite common. For example, at 10 PM on November 20, 2013, while visiting a relative at the Children's Hospital, due to a personal conflict, two individuals, Duong Van L and Duong Van T (from Phong Phu hamlet, Hung Hoa commune), assaulted and injured Dau Khac Viet, a hospital parking attendant. At the Provincial Friendship General Hospital, in 2013 alone, there were 18 incidents of disturbances, resistance to law enforcement, assault causing injury, threats against doctors and medical staff, and destruction of public property. Those causing disturbances are often gangs of thugs who, when provoked or requested, cause chaos. In some cases, it is the family members of patients who, due to hot tempers, intoxication, or dissatisfaction with the treatment of hospital staff, become frustrated and act uncontrollably. In addition, there is the phenomenon of drug addicts taking advantage of secluded areas in hospitals to inject drugs during off-peak hours, causing negative public opinion and creating anxiety for family members and patients.

Although the thieves' operations are quite sophisticated, tracking and apprehending them is currently extremely difficult. “Even at the Provincial Friendship General Hospital, despite having a dedicated security force of 10 people, hiring 12 additional security guards, and using numerous signs and warnings in sensitive areas to alert patients and their families, the number of thefts has still increased in the last two years, with no sign of decreasing,” said Mr. Pham Sy Thong, Head of Administration and Management at the Provincial Friendship General Hospital. From the police perspective, Major Tran Viet Thang, Deputy Head of Hung Dung Ward Police, stated: “There are many reasons why criminals choose hospitals as their operating base. Firstly, hospitals have a large number of patients and a high volume of people coming and going, making it easy to blend in. In addition, in some hospitals, the number of patients who are drug addicts, HIV-infected, or serving prison sentences is quite high, making management quite complex… Meanwhile, the facilities are still limited; in many places, due to a lack of wards, patients have to lie in the corridors without doors or protection, creating loopholes for criminals to operate.”

Catching thieves is also extremely difficult because the stolen property is usually of low value, not enough to warrant criminal prosecution. Administrative penalties are not strong enough to deter them.

Given this situation, the best solution remains to further intensify public awareness campaigns to encourage patients and their families to be vigilant. In addition, hospitals must proactively prevent crime, strengthen security forces, guards, and patrol teams; and the police force should enhance coordination with security forces in hospitals to form task forces that regularly monitor and supervise to detect, apprehend, and promptly handle fraudsters and thieves. This implementation needs to be carried out resolutely, consistently, and over the long term to be effective and restore security and order in hospitals.

My Ha