According to the South African Medical Association (Sama) more than 30 hospitals across the country have reported serious security incidents this year.
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This indicates a need for a closer analysis of crime in healthcare facilities to better understand how to combat it and design solutions to support healthcare practitioners in doing their work without fear, especially in areas where there is a high crime rate.
“The current crime statistics do not focus on a structured approach to understanding criminal activities in the healthcare space, as these are recorded as part of the national crime statistics. There are no real statistics specific to healthcare facilities and it is imperative that we look at healthcare as an individual sector. That way we can begin to break down what is going on in hospitals and kind of get a root cause,” says Derek Ramsay, healthcare security account executive at Servest.
In some aspects South Africa is on a par with other countries in terms of security at healthcare facilities. However, gaps remain in the manner in which crime is monitored, tracked and analysed for both the private and public sector healthcare facilities.
Lessons from China
“From a technology point of view, lessons can be learned from China and the whole Far East area, as they have some of the best CCTV systems and artificial intelligence solutions that have facial and optic recognition capabilities.
“Some countries also have specialised hospitals that make it easier to tailor security for their specific needs, a children’s hospital for example, a maternity hospital, critical illnesses relating to different diseases etc. However, this would require a whole-view approach of our current hospital structures in order to get it right,” he says
Security in the healthcare sector is particularly complex, partly because of the different types of facilities, the varying threat levels and the compliance requirements. Moreover, it is focused on protecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who are at a point in their lives where they cannot fend for themselves; and several factors must be taken into consideration when providing security services in healthcare facilities.
“A number of factors must be taken into account for each individual healthcare facility to ensure that the solutions provided meet the needs of the patients, staff and healthcare specimens. The risk of a hospital is determined by its geolocation and the types of risks around that location, and there is no one size fits all model for healthcare security solutions – hence it is critical not only to understand the facility but the geolocation too.
