Nurses being attacked

Complaints disappear into ‘black hole’, says INMO as data reveals ten-year tally

Data ‘not indicative of a level of harm’

THERE have been close to 10,000 reports filed of assaults on hospital staff in the past ten years, according to data released by the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Since 2008, there have been 9,901 reported assaults on hospital staff, with 253 in the first four months of 2018.

The figures were released to Sinn Féin spokeswoman for health Louise O’Reilly TD through a parliamentary question.

The hospital group with the most reported assaults in the last ten years is the RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), Dublin North East Hospital Group, which encompasses Beaumont Hospital, Cavan General Hospital, Connolly Hospital, Louth County Hospital, Monaghan Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and the Rotunda. In total, that group recorded 2,331 assaults on its staff. Nurses have taken the brunt of the assaults – 6,964 attacks in ten years.

There have been 268 recorded assaults on doctors and other medical staff, 189 on ‘allied health professionals’ such as physical therapists, and 134 on catering and housekeeping staff.

Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Director of Industrial Relations for the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) Tony Fitzpatrick said that the organisation had ‘grave concerns’ about the number of attacks. ‘The HSE has this risk-management process. If something happens, you report it and you fill out an incident form. That goes to risk management and it goes to senior management but the loop is never closed on that,’ said Mr Fitzpatrick.

‘Our members describe it as the black hole because they fill up all these forms, they give management all the details and then these risk forms disappear into a black hole and they never hear anything back. I would have a concern with regards to under-reporting because people are sick and tired flagging things to the HSE and to HSE management and them not doing anything about it,’ he added.

According to a statement released in conjunction with the assault figures, the HSE said staff are encouraged to report all ‘near misses’ and incidents, even those that do not result in harm.

‘Hence, the number of incident reports should not be considered as indicative of a level of harm. There also may be multiple reports relating to the same incident,’ it said.

The HSE also said that these numbers are expected to rise over the next few years as a result of the NIMS becoming more embedded in the system.

‘Ensuring the safety of employees and service users is a priority concern for the HSE,’ the executive said in a statement.

Ms O’Reilly said: ‘The working conditions for frontline staff have significantly deteriorated over the past number of years.

‘Hours have become longer, the environment has become characterised by high stress levels, and a particularly acute aspect is that working in the health service has become an extremely high-risk occupation in terms of aggression and physical assault,’ she said.’