Doctors draw line in sand

By Melissa Meehan
Doctors have moved to ensure the murder of one of their colleagues can never be repeated.
Dr Khulod Maroof-Hassan was killed in her Noble Park consulting room three years ago. The grief and anger of her colleagues has spurred action, and her death shed light on the dangers and fears they faced.
In Dandenong on Monday the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) launched new education materials designed to support practice teams to create safe working environments, prevent violent incidents and decrease the impact of violence when it occurs.
The new educational resource comes in the form of a book titled General Practice – A safe place” tips and tools and an accompanying online module includes case studies and responses.
RACGP President Dr Chris Mitchell said general practices should be a safe and secure place to work.
“It is disturbing to know that two out of three GPs will experience some form of occupational violence at some point in their working lives,” he said.
“The tragic death of Dr Khulod Maarouf-Hassan in 2006 and other high profile tragedies in recent years have highlighted the potential seriousness of patient-initiated violence.”
He said with the launch of the new resource and education materials, practice teams were encouraged to boost their skills in creating a safe workplace for themselves and patients.
We anticipate that these training materials will be used as a tool to encourage discussion within general practice teams about appropriate responses to manage the risk of occupational violence,” said Dr Mitchell.
Dr Mukesh Haikerwal spoke at the launch praising the book.
“When Khulod was killed it sent ripples through our community,” he said.
“Then we were left to think about how we could make our lives more secure, look after people and stay safe.”
The materials outline effective risk control measures that are inclusive of the whole practice team, have a pre-planned and preventative approach and include both patient and practice-team directed strategies.