A senior official Monday said that the Chinese government will encourage third-party mediation in doctor-patient disputes.

Community workers and social workers can play a better role in mediating between patients and hospitals, said Vice Premier Liu Yandong at a meeting on doctor-patient disputes.

There have been many attempts to bring in an independent third party to help settle medical disputes and successful examples will be introduced nationwide, Liu said.

Tension between doctors and patients have risen in recent years as a string of assaults on medical workers by patients or their families shocked the country.

A survey released by DXY.COM, an online community for medical staff, last month showed that 86.7 percent of its participants, which include 3,360 doctors, pharmacists and nurses, have encountered disputes in the past 12 months.

Meng Jianzhu, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told the meeting that law enforcement agencies will step up efforts against violence against medical workers and help improve public awareness of legal channels to settle medical disputes.