Staffordshire Police are stepping up patrols around Burton’s Queen’s Hospital as part of a “zero tolerance” to violence policy launched by staff.
Officers will be on hand to take action and support hospital staff who find themselves threatened and intimidated by aggressive visitors. Police will also be targeting groups of people who have been spotted hanging around the hospital grounds causing damage and behaving badly.
Offenders could find themselves being handed on the spot £80 fixed penalty fines or being arrested and taken to court.
“Many of the reports we are receiving are happening between 8pm and midnight both inside and outside the hospital premises,” said Sgt Roy Whatley of Burton neighbourhood policing team. “Sometime they involve patients – but often it is patients’ friends and relatives who turn up to the hospital often having consumed too much alcohol, who become aggressive towards staff who are trying to help. Their behaviour can often be extremely frightening and intimidating for staff and other patients awaiting treatment.”
In the last 12 months, police have received 48 calls reporting incidents of rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour. Most of the calls involved people being verbally aggressive, intimidating staff and patients, being drunk or refusing to leave the premises.
NHS says
Julie Cotterill, Director of Governance for Burton Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Although the Trust has experienced a relatively low number of reports of physical violence against staff, we are determined to reduce further the number of incidents through training and our zero tolerance policy.
