NHS staff are under attack
Four workers a day suffer violence or abuse
Shock new statistics have revealed that, on average, four NHS Lanarkshire workers are attacked or abused each day.
The figures which were obtained by a Freedom of Information request, show that last year there were 1524 incidents reported.
And the incidents range from staff being assaulted by patients to harassment, stalking, victimisation and verbal abuse.
The figures for 2017 relate to over 40 NHS facilities, but most incidents occur in the three acute hospitals.
University Hospital Wishaw had the most assaults by patients in Lanarkshire, with 218 being recorded – 44 more than 2016. Wishaw also recorded a total of 449 incidents.
University Hairmyres Hospital recorded 112 staff assaults in 2017, again a rise of the previous year, as 82 were noted in 2016.
The hospital in East Kilbride had a total of 215 incidents over the year.
And University Monklands Hospital had 103 assaults, and a total of 199 incidents.
Udston Hospital in Hamilton also reported a relatively high amount of staff attacks, with 136 being recorded last year.
In response to these figures, John White, interim director of human resources at NHS Lanarkshire, said: “Clearly, no one should be subjected to abuse at work, either verbal or physical.
“We take a zero tolerance approach against anyone who physically or verbally attacks any of our staff and we work with local police in the management of aggressive and violent individuals.
“The safety of staff and patients is of paramount importance and we take the issue of hospital security very seriously.
“Staff are encouraged to report all violent incidents to the police and they will be fully supported by NHS Lanarkshire.
“We also have mandatory training for appropriate staff to enable them to manage violent or potentially violent individuals.”
Chair of the Scottish branch of the British Medical Association, Dr Peter Bennie, said: “The NHS has a zero tolerance approach to violence against NHS staff, yet sadly high numbers of cases continue to be reported.
“It is completely unacceptable that NHS staff are subject to physical or verbal abuse while they are going about their jobs.
“Unfortunately we know from our own research that many cases of physical or verbal abuse go unreported, so it is likely that the number of cases is even higher than reported figures.
“A clear message must be sent out that violence against NHS workers is not acceptable and anyone committing these crimes should be prosecuted.”
There was an overall decrease in attacks on Lanarkshire staff from the previous year, as 1573 were recorded in 2016, dropping to 1524 in 2017.