A double winner at the National Association for Healthcare Security (NAHS) Annual Conference and Awards 2025, at The Slate, University of Warwick on Wednesday night, November 26, was the security contractor Assist Security Group (ASG) .
The firm won Healthcare Team of the Year for its St Helier University Hospital officers; and a Violence Prevention and Reduction Award for its One Person, One Voice initiative.
The security officers at St Helier NHS Healthcare Security Team took the team award for saving nine lives in the past year while managing about 500 incidents monthly with a 99 per cent achievement rate against their three-minute response time. The team of 50, operating 24/7 throughout the year, has responded to everything from preventing suicide attempts to assisting police with major criminal investigations.
In one case, the team detained an armed suspect linked to body parts discovered in a nearby park. In another, officers provided first aid to a woman who had attempted to take her life in the hospital car park, keeping her calm and gathering vital information that enabled clinical staff to save her life. The security officers have protected staff from armed threats, responded to bomb alerts, and safeguarded vulnerable patients including those with dementia and paediatric mental health patients in crisis.
Paul Grzegorzek, ASG’s NHS Account Director, said: “These awards belong to everyone involved – our security teams, NHS clinical staff, trust leadership, and the wider healthcare community who have embraced new approaches to keeping people safe.”
ASG’s One Person, One Voice initiative, begun in July 2024, sees that a single trained individual takes responsibility for communication during high-risk interactions. This reduces confusion and overstimulation, particularly for patients in mental health crisis. The approach has been rolled out at Epsom, St Helier, and Croydon hospitals, with 446 staff trained across 1,784 training hours. Results include:
- 2.2pc reduction in staff injuries, despite rising violence across the NHS
- 20pc improvement in reporting compliance
- 7pc increase in positive staff survey feedback about security
The training extends beyond security to all patient-facing NHS staff, including clinicians and admin. Each participant receives four hours of focused training covering verbal de-escalation, situational awareness, and collaborative intervention. Grzegorzek added: “One person one voice ensures that patients aren’t being overwhelmed with information, creating a more relaxed environment for them to receive care and therefore reducing the chances for violence and aggression.”
The approach has been delivered at no cost to the NHS and provides a model that other Trusts can adopt, the firm adds. Its work with NHS Trusts includes Guy’s & St Thomas’ in central London, Croydon Health Services, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, Barts Health, and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Photo courtesy of ASG: on stage at the NAHS event are, left to right, Paul Chubb, Luke Overy, Shani Baldwin, and Paul Grzegorzek from Assist Security Group.
