Privatization of health and publicization of violence: Violence towards doctors

PRIVATIZATION OF HEALTH AND PUBLICIZATION OF VIOLENCE: VIOLENCE TOWARDS DOCTORS
ABSTRACT
Objective: Based on the data obtained from a fieldwork in Gaziantep and Kilis, this article aims to discuss neoliberal transformation of the health sector and the consequences of this transformation in effecting violence towards doctors.
Method: In this study, simple random sampling technique is used and 233 respondents are selected and given a structured questionnaire form. The data obtained in these questionnaire forms are analyzed with statistical software.
Result: The finding of this study demonstrates that physicians have been facing extensive violence. The majority of violent acts occur in clinics and during examinations where there are intensive interactions with the patients. The perpetrators of violence are mostly friends or relatives of the patients. Dissatisfaction from the care, feeling of being neglected and institutional shortages are the underlying reasons for the patients’ or their relatives’ violence against the doctors (respectively 37,8% and 31,1%). The majority of doctors believe that violence in the health system is primarily due to inequality in the distribution of income and educational problems in society (respectively 44,5% and 32,1%).
Discussion: The findings of the study demonstrate that the violent acts towards doctors have significantly increased after the recent implementation of “Health Reform Program”. If we fall into simplisticity of positivist generalization, we may conclude that conditions in public health sectors, such as lack of enough experience of young practioners, education problems in medicine and among others are full of overwhelming problems. However, although the fact that the violence in public health sectors are significantly higher than that of the private sector is empirically valid, the critical task is to explain how the privatization process has led to “the publicization of violence”, or to put it differently, is to make “invisible hand” visible that shapes relations in health sector.