Aggressions towards health care professionals from the point of view of health law, with particular regard to assault on persons in authority and their agents

Abstract

Aggressions towards health care professionals by patients or by their close contacts are a source of social and institutional concern given the high prevalence of this phenomenon. On the basis of the scale of the problem different professional organizations in the field of health (led by the Spanish Medical Association) have advocated the need for a comprehensive response that includes organizational, technical and rehabilitative measures as well as punitive ones. This paper addresses the process that led to the reform of the Spanish Criminal Code by Organic Law 1/2015 (entry into force July 2015) related to this topic. From then on conviction for assault shall befall those who attack or seriously resist (with violence or with serious threat) civil servants of the teaching and health sectors.