Now even hospital staff get body cameras
A HOSPITAL has issued body-worn cameras to its security staff after a dramatic rise in assaults on front-line NHS workers.
Guards at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals will wear the devices in a bid to reduce violent and abusive behaviour from patients.
It comes just days after Scotland Yard announced it was introducing more body video cameras to frontline officers than any other force in the world.
A total of 8 0 incidents were recorded between April and September by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust in central London – a 27 per cent rise on the same period last year.
Dame Eileen Sills, the trust’s chief nurse, told the London Evening Standard: ‘We have seen an increase in both the numbers but also the level of violence. Some of our staff have been harmed. Some have been left with black eyes after they have come to work.
‘Some have been pinned to the floor. Some have been hit – a level of violence we have not seen in the organisation until recently.
‘It’s getting worse, which is why we are launching the campaign.’
Body-worn cameras are digital devices about the size of a cigarette packet which can record hours of footage, which can then be used as evidence in court if an incident occurs.
Over the past six months, the trust saw 7 arrests on its premises – up from 30 in the same period last year – and 26 patients were excluded, meaning they will only be provided with emer- gency treatment. Dame Eileen added: ‘We think it will help de-escalate some situations. They give confidence to our security officers.
‘Also, when someone is wearing one, the individual will not necessarily exhibit the extreme behaviours they have done in the past.’
Superintendent Roy Smith, of Scotland Yard, said: ‘I think it protects staff and patients, because if there is any sort of violence people can see instantly that they are being recorded on body-worn video.’
Security officer Charlee Dunn, 23, said the aim was not to behave like police officers in the hospital. ‘We are trying for a more friendly approach. We look after patients here,’ she said.
The Metropolitan Police is set to hand out 22,000 cameras to all neighbourhood and response officers at a cost of nearly £10million.