Bağcılar District Attacked Staff and Scattered Medical Supplies After Claiming They Waited Too Long — Despite Having Waited Only Eight

The incident, captured on security cameras, has prompted the Istanbul Family Medicine Association to demand deterrent measures against violence in healthcare. The incident occurred yesterday at around 10:00 a.m. at the Bağcılar Rumeli Family Health Center. According to the information obtained, a person who came for an examination argued with a staff member, claiming they had waited too long.

After the argument, the suspect scattered the reception desk and attempted to attack the staff member. Patients present at the scene then removed the attacker. The moments were captured on camera.

In a statement from the Istanbul Family Medicine Association, it was said: A patient who applied at 10:02 on Tuesday morning, August 25, scattered the patient registration desk and surrounding public property because they waited only 8 minutes, making the area where health workers work unusable and interrupting health services. The image that emerged is not just a scattered desk or medical supplies thrown on the floor. Health workers working in a safe, peaceful, and humane environment is not a privilege but their most fundamental right.

Health institutions must also be safe spaces for both employees and patients. There can be no excuse, justification, or pretext for violence in healthcare. We call on authorities to take more effective and deterrent measures to ensure the safety of health workers and to strengthen mechanisms to prevent violence in health institutions. Because every act of violence directed at a health worker is an attack not only on an employee but on health services itself.