NHS unions link rise in assaults to lack of staff

ASSAULTS on NHS staff have risen, with unions blaming staff shortages for creating frustrated patients.

Research for Unison revealed a near-10 per cent rise in physical assaults on health workers in England last year, with a 21 per cent increase at hospitals with an A&E department. There were 56,435 assaults in 2016-17 compared with 51,447 the previous year in NHS trusts that responded to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Health Service Journal for the union. Trusts treating fewer patients within 18 weeks of referral saw the biggest increase.

Sara Gorton, the Unison head of health, said: “Across the NHS, staff shortages are harming patient care and helping to create a hostile environment where health workers are increasingly at risk of being assaulted.”

NHS England said: “It is completely unacceptable that any member of NHS staff should be assaulted physically or verbally.”