ATTACKS ON NHS STAFF EVERY 37 MINUTES
Health workers ‘punched, bitten and scratched’ in violent assaults
DOCTORS and nurses are being subjected to 38 attacks every day as part of a wave of violence across the NHS. Health workers in Scotland face a barrage of assaults from patients who bite, punch, scratch and even attack them with improvised weapons.
More than 28,000 assaults were carried out against staff working in hospitals, health centres and GP clinics north of the Border over the past two years.
Police were called to NHS premises on 1,400 occasions over this period as staff endured a violent incident an average of once every 37 minutes.
The scale of the problem blighting NHS Scotland has sparked concern that not enough is being done to protect healthcare
workers. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘These are shocking statistics and prove that much more needs to be done to protect our hardworking NHS staff.
‘These doctors and nurses are spending every day trying to save lives and deserve to be able to work in a safe environment.
‘We already have a staffing crisis in Scotland, and with this level of abuse or intimidation being aimed at medical staff, it will only make it harder for us to attract people to work in our health system.’
Figures show that in one instance at a health centre in Shetland, a patient ‘became violent towards the doctor by kicking, slapping and attempting to choke the doctor with a necklace’.
One patient ‘threw a Zimmer frame’ at a nurse and another was attacked with a walking stick.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway described how a ‘patient lunged at a staff nurse, causing a 5in laceration and 2in laceration to the right hand and arm’.
The board said a patient ‘threw a cup of coffee at a staff member’, while another worker was ‘physically attacked by a patient with a newspaper and fork’.
Bosses at NHS Grampian said staff suffered 141 bites, 33 racially motivated attacks and 100 attacks of a sexual nature over the two-year period.
Figures released under Freedom of Information laws show that during 2015 and 2016, NHS boards logged 28,176 instances of violence towards its workers – the equivalent of 38 every day.
Levels of violence remained consistent over the two years, with 14,306 incidents recorded in 2015 and 13,870 last year. But it is feared the true number of assaults could be even higher, as many NHS staff are believed to choose not to report incidents of violence in the workplace.
Dr Peter Bennie, chairman of British Medical Association Scotland, said: ‘The NHS has a zero tolerance approach to violence against NHS staff, yet sadly high numbers of incidents continue to be reported.
‘It is 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 inci- dents of physical or verbal abuse go unreported, so it is likely that the number of cases is higher.
‘A clear and visible message must be sent out that violence against NHS workers is not acceptable.’
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recorded 9,075 incidents, including 5,345 separate ‘physical assaults on staff’ and 2,758 threats of violence and serious verbal abuse.
The worst hit hospitals included Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow, which recorded 1,202 incidents, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where 623 attacks took place and Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, which recorded 648 incidents.
Even Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Children was hit with 221 incidents, while Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children recorded eight instances of violence against staff.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We encourage all NHS organisations to support criminal proceedings against anyone who assaults our staff.
‘The Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act includes a penalty of up to 12 months’ imprisonment, a £10,000 fine or both. In 2008 this Government extended the Act to include GPs and doctors, nurses and midwives working in the community.
‘Enforcing this, and working with NHS boards, staff and trade union representatives has helped to bring down the number of attacks. The 2015 NHS Scotland staff survey found a 10 per cent reduction in the number of staff who had experienced a physical attack since 2008.’
‘Work in safe environment’
NEWs that Nhs staff in scotland suffer some sort of violent attack on average every 37 minutes is shocking enough, but it may be only the tip of the iceberg.
Dr Peter Bennie, chairman of the British Medical association scotland, says: ‘the Nhs has a zero tolerance approach to violence against Nhs staff, yet – sadly – high numbers continue to be reported.
‘Unfortunately, we know from our own research that many incidents of physical or verbal abuse go unreported, so it is likely that the number of cases is higher.’ this is a complex and multiform problem – exactly the sort of the thing the sNP has shown itself to be poor at dealing with in almost a decade of being in sole charge of the Nhs in scotland.
some cases involve patients who are violent as a result of mental health issues or dementia. Compassion in such matters is key, but still Nhs carers must be protected. are sufficient resources in place to ensure their safety?
then there are the simple acts of assault and violence that would result in police involvement if they took place in a street or pub.
Why should a hospital ward or doctor’s surgery or a&E department be different? In fact, shouldn’t those places be even better protected, with stiffer penalties for transgressors?
But the soft-touch sNP has long put the rights of criminals ahead of those of victims.
Justice secretary Michael Matheson – invisible man of Nicola sturgeon’s Cabinet – should park his trendy right-on ideas about keeping criminals out of the dock.
Instead he should be getting together with health secretary shona Robison to ensure Nhs staff and patients alike are safe from violence, while those who perpetrate it should know they face serious consequences.
the figures we report today make for chilling reading. Will even they be enough to rattle Mr Matheson and Miss Robison into meaningful action?