Medical professionals cast doubt on the effectiveness of a pledge to curb angry displays by relatives of patients who die unexpectedly, saying it merely paid lip-service to a practice that has seen doctors killed.

In one of the latest incidents, more than 40 doctors and nurses at the privately run Baixin Hospital in Hengshan county, Shaanxi , were forced to kneel during a funeral rite for an elderly man who died while in their care, according to a video circulating online. The man died in March due to a tear in his stomach lining.

On Monday, the ministries of health and public security issued a directive outlining illegal public behaviour at medical facilities and warned that offenders would be prosecuted.

But industry professionals took little relief in the announcement, saying it was unlikely to clamp down on the growing violence.

Dr Zhang Qiang, a senior vascular surgeon from Shanghai‘s…