Can people still expect hospitals to be safe havens?

The fatal, avoidable attack on a revered heart surgeon in Melbourne "underlines the importance of getting hospital security right", health leaders say.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann died in The Alfred hospital, nearly a month after he was attacked at the entrance to a hospital where he worked.

Australian Medical Association Victoria president Lorraine Baker says it's a community expectation that hospitals are a safe haven for all.

"His death was avoidable, and it should not have happened," she says.