Surgeon attack prompts safety calls

MELBOURNE, Australia - Doctors and medical professionals in the Australian state of Victoria have called on the state government to urgently address the issue of health-worker safety following another serious attack at a Melbourne hospital.

A man was charged on Friday with intentionally causing serious injury after punching a surgeon at Box Hill Hospital on Tuesday night, a blow which has left the surgeon in a coma and fighting for his life.

It is the latest in a series of similar incidents, with health services' annual reports last year showing that a Victorian health worker was bitten, spat at, punched, abused or threatened almost every hour in 2016.