The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, has publicly commented on the latest cases of assault on medical personnel, stating that it is “deeply worrying” that, in the year 2026, in Romania, doctors and assistants are physically attacked while carrying out their work and saving lives.
“I am sending a very strong message: violence against medical staff will not be tolerated. Never!” the minister wrote in a post on Facebook, drawing attention to the fact that assaulting medical personnel affects the safety of the entire health system and the patients’ chance of life.
Alexandru Rogobete emphasized that “justice is not done with fists in the salon” and that attacking doctors or assistants is, in fact, a direct attack on those who fight for the lives of patients.
The minister stated that the safety of medical personnel is a priority of his mandate and that he will not accept that health workers are exposed to violence, in addition to the huge pressure and responsibility they have on a daily basis.
In this context, the Minister of Health launched a public appeal to all health unit managers, requesting:
– the urgent summoning of internal protection services and security firms to establish clear rules and updated intervention procedures;
– re-evaluation of access circuits and control measures in hospitals;
– visible display of the visiting program and the rules applicable to the members.
“The hospital is not a train station. Residents cannot walk around the wards as they please. Each ward has a visiting schedule that must be respected. I appeal to all citizens to respect these rules, wear protective equipment when entering the wards and understand that discipline in the hospital means safety for all”, emphasized the minister.
At the same time, Alexandru Rogobete drew attention to the need for more information, education and public responsibility, stating that tension, frustration or fear cannot justify violence, but must be managed through dialogue and trust in medical teams.
“Whoever assaults medical personnel will be held accountable before the law. The health system must be a space of care and safety, not of fear,” concluded Alexandru Rogobete.
Today, also the head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat, reacted after the recent cases of aggression against some doctors in Borșa and Târgu Jiu, qualifying the incidents as “unacceptable” and affirming zero tolerance for any form of violence directed against medical personnel.
The reactions of the two come in the context of an incident that happened on Monday at the Târgu Jiu County Emergency Hospital, where a doctor was assaulted by a relative of a patient at the Emergency Reception Unit. The hospital management specified that the patient became agitated during the medical procedures, and the members entered the medical space without authorization, where they assaulted the doctor on duty and threw coffee. The doctor slipped and injured his leg.
Another case took place on Friday evening in Borșa, where a doctor was assaulted while giving first aid to a patient. The investigation showed that several members of the patient’s family entered the room, and one of them allegedly physically assaulted the doctor, destroying his eyeglasses.
