Efforts by the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) to tackle assaults on NHS staff are bearing fruit, we reported in our October print issue.
There was a 15-fold increase in the number of prosecutions – 759 – in 2004-5, compared with 51 cases identified in 2002/03.
Jim Gee, Chief Executive of the NHS Security Management Service said: “We are determined to protect NHS staff from violence so that they can protect the public’s health. The introduction of new professional arrangements to report, investigate and prosecute violence has resulted in a fifteen-fold increase in the number of prosecutions. We have shown that the existing legislation, if used effectively, is up to the task. The vast majority of the public find violence against NHS staff to be completely unacceptable. The small but anti-social minority who carry out such attacks should understand that we shall take the toughest possible action against them.”
As featured in Professional Security in January, the NHS SMS has put in place measures since November 2003 to help increase the number of prosecutions against offenders and prevent violence against staff. These include:
Creating a new Legal Protection Unit to ensure legal action is taken against anyone who assaults NHS staff, including taking private prosecutions in partnership with the relevant NHS organisation.
Introducing a new network of Local Security Management Specialists who will work with the police to investigate assaults on staff
A new national reporting system for physical assaults so that the nature of the problem can be properly assessed and repeat offenders can be tracked
The NHS SMS has been negotiating an agreement with the Association of Chief Police Officers which will be signed later this year. It will commit both organisations to closer working in investigating and prosecuting these crimes.
What does this mean on the ground? Keith Nicholles, a paramedic from the North East Ambulance Service was punched by a patient, who was sentenced to six months in prison for the assault. He said: "I thought it was about time. Previously I’d let the incident go, but felt as though something had to be done to prosecute this man. It wasn’t the first time he was involved in assaulting people, and he’ll think twice before assaulting someone who is trying to help him in the future. Once word gets out about this, hopefully assaults will be down in the future. In the past we’ve been a soft touch; this will give us a bit of clout."
In June 2004, following violent or abusive behaviour against NHS staff, the NHS SMS successfully applied for the first national Anti-Social Behavioural Order (ASBO) covering the entire NHS, against a Norman Hutchins. The order prevents him from entering medical premises in England and Wales without lawful excuse or prior permission from the NHS organisation involved. He was jailed in January 2005 for three years. A violent arsonist was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 13, for stabbing a staff nurse in the back at York Hospital in September 2004. The nurse suffered minor lacerations. As reported in our April edition, this year has seen trials of Identicom, a device to help protect those who work in the community. Using mobile phone technology the device helps these workers raise an alarm if they feel threatened or are attacked. It allows them to covertly record threats of violence or abuse, which may later be used in evidence. This will be rolled out to lone workers across the NHS. Over four years, some 750,000 frontline staff are being trained to help defuse potentially violent situations. Specialist training for those working in mental health, learning disabilities and the ambulance service is being developed by an NHS SMS-led group and will be launched shortly. This group is also considering the issue of physical intervention techniques – a tricky subject, given that on the one hand disturbed patients may be a danger to themselves and care staff, but on the other restraint has led to asphixiation.
