Violence in hospitals | Debate about bodycams in NRW hospitals

According to the Verdi trade union, 1,705 violent crimes were registered in NRW hospitals in 2023—almost five incidents per day. A year later, according to media reports, only 1,256 violent crimes were reported in the state's 300 or so hospitals, but both figures represent a nearly doubled number of cases over a ten-year period. The Marburger Bund, the association of salaried and civil servant physicians, conducted a member survey on this topic in the fall of 2024. According to the survey, 41 percent of its approximately 10,000 members reported an increase in violence over the past five years.

Especially in the Ruhr region, hospital staff are repeatedly insulted, spat upon, or even physically attacked. Often by relatives of patients, who are dissatisfied with long waiting times or bottlenecks caused by chronic staff shortages. Doctors in emergency rooms and urgent care practices told "nd" that relatives and patients often have excessive demands and expectations. The excesses of a "general brutalization and lack of inhibition in society" are also evident in emergency rooms and wards.

Due to assaults, particularly in the emergency room, a Dortmund hospital announced at the beginning of 2025 that it would introduce body cameras later this year. Staff should decide for themselves during working hours when wearing a camera and filming seem advisable, reports the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.

Instead of body cameras, both the Verdi union and the Marburger Bund are calling for more immediate protective measures. These include a comprehensive security concept and trained security personnel in hospitals. "We also believe that mandatory de-escalation training for all employees who have contact with the public – especially in hospitals – is useful," Ismail Cebe, Verdi union secretary, told "nd."

He also calls for "long-term prevention." According to Cebe, there is a need for statutory minimum staffing levels in the healthcare and public sector . "An expansion of psychosocial support for those affected is also urgently needed."

The Marburger Bund takes a similar view. Already established security measures should be further expanded. However, as is often the case between the state and federal governments, their financing is unclear. If the increased costs for security personnel or alarm systems are considered investment costs, they would have to be borne by the state. If they are operating costs, the federal government would step in.

"We need more education, sufficient staff in patient care, and adequate protective measures for doctors and nursing staff."

Marburger Bund Federal Association

"We need more awareness through broad-based campaigns, sufficient staff in direct patient care, and adequate protective measures for treating physicians and nursing staff," the Federal Association of Germany's only doctors' union responded to a query from "nd." Politicians are called upon to improve the framework for care.

The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, argues that body cameras for hospital staff could fundamentally be a means of violence prevention. Visible cameras could have a de-escalating effect and help reduce assaults on healthcare workers. If the cameras are actually introduced, this could set a precedent for dealing with violence in hospitals in other federal states . Of course, violence against doctors and nursing staff also occurs there.

According to the Interior Ministry, the advantages of the small cameras lie in "preserving evidence, which can serve both to protect staff and to clarify incidents." However, the state government requires hospitals to develop clear frameworks for the use of the cameras. It intends to support a new security guideline developed by the hospital association for all hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Faster prosecutions and harsher sentences for assaults are needed, says Verdi union secretary Ismail Cebe, to deter perpetrators. "The current figures on violent incidents in North Rhine-Westphalia's hospitals and public institutions are not only alarming—they are a social scandal." He witnesses daily how colleagues are insulted, threatened, or even physically attacked while on duty. "We can no longer tolerate these developments."