A new police station within Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) in Bahrain will be up and running by December.

Construction on the 60-square metre facility, being set up in a corner of the Accident and Emergency department ambulance car park has been completed and is about to be furnished, officials confirmed.

'We hope with this in place, we will have a major demand of doctors and staff met,' said chief of medical staff Dr Mohammed Amin Al Awadhi.

'We are happy we will have access to a place where we can not only lodge complaints against violent behaviour by patients and their attendants, but we can also follow up on them.'

Dr Al Awadhi said doctors and nurses had long demanded the hospital get a police station following repeated attacks by patients and their relatives.

'We have not had a major incident for several weeks now but cases keep happening,' he said.

'On an average, we have at least one incident when an official on duty is at least verbally assaulted by a patient or an attendant.'

Dr Al Awadhi said reports had been lodged with the police but in most cases, no action has been taken due to lack of follow-up by hospital staff.

'We lodge a complaint against a patient at a police station and then are required to keep following up,' he said.

'When we are unable to go repeatedly because we are busy, the case is dismissed. This way, the offender gets away.'

He said the new facility would be a fully-fledged police station, meaning cases could be referred to the Public Prosecution on the spot.

'Moreover, since we are always at the hospital, it will be easy to go and give statements,' he said.

Accident and Emergency department chairman Dr Jassim Al Mehza earlier said he hoped assault cases would be eliminated.

Patients and their relatives attacked doctors, nurses and staff after they were denied particular medications, not granted sick leave or claimed they were not being treated fairly.

At least three doctors and nurses have required hospital treatment in recent months, including an Egyptian who had to be treated in SMC's Intensive Care Unit.

The latest attack happened on August 4 when a relative of a sickle cell patient who died at the hospital attacked an on-duty doctor and security guards and destroyed machines and equipment after learning of her death.

The man became hysterical and pushed the on-duty doctor several times and threatened to attack him with a pair of scissors.

He then destroyed a computer, the main gate's CCTV, blood pressure apparatus and the glass screen of a fire extinguishing hose.

The emergency department's police were called in to arrest him, taking him to the Umm Al Hassam Police Station.

The Bahrain Medical Society had also started a special campaign to educate patients on doctors' rights and make them aware that they will be taken to task if they behave violently.

The officials also met Health Minister Dr Faisal Al Hamer after complaining about the lack of action by the authorities, saying on average a doctor was assaulted every day.

Strict new rules were earlier introduced at SMC to prevent violent attacks against staff, with patients' relatives no longer being allowed to enter the department and extra security brought in to enforce the ban.

At one point, Dr Al Mehza demanded BD500 a month danger money for doctors and nurses, in the face of almost daily violence and abuse.-TradeArabia News Service