Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. Photo: Zhao Yusha/GT

Beijing plans to set up police rooms in level-II and III hospitals, and install one-button alarm devices directly connected with public to prevent medical disputes from spiraling into violent incidents.

The draft law, which was submitted to local legislature for review on Thursday, came out in the wake of a number of serious medical disputes last year that triggered outrage among the public, including one case in which a doctor in Beijing was stabbed in the neck by a member of a patient's family and died on December 25, 2019. 

According to the draft, public security organs will intervene in advance in disputes that may cause public security or criminal cases through a shared security network with the hospital.

Under the plan, hospitals will set up police rooms to work together with their security personnel to carry out 24-hour security inspections in the key areas of the hospital, such as the emergency room, doctors' offices and nurses' stations.

The security personnel will also accompany high-risk patients during their treatment, including those who are drunk, show abnormal behavior or appear to have violent tendencies.

In addition, hospitals will install a one-button alarm device in their key treatment rooms, which will be connected to the hospital police room and the local police stations.

The document suggested that hospitals should implement security checks at entrances to ensure no prohibited items of any kind are brought in.

Meanwhile, the regulation indicates that medical workers have the right to suspend treatment when their safety is threatened.