Attacks on staff in North still a problem

Despite the introduction of a zero tolerance campaign last June, the number of attacks on healthcare workers is still an issue in Northern Ireland. Attacks on healthcare workers has been raised as an issue of concern once more, this time north of the border.
A Social Democratic and Labour Party politician raised the issue recently in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Mrs Mary Bradley, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Foyle constituency, asked the North’s Minister of Health, Michael McGimpsey, a list of questions on the matter.

Mrs Bradley may have a particular interest in this issue because she worked in the health sector for many years. According to her MLA profile on the Assembly website, she worked as a care assistant with the Western Health and Social Services Board for 18 years. She wanted to know what progress was made on reducing the number of physical attacks on healthcare staff. Note the word ‘physical’. It is not known how much verbal abuse goes unreported.
Minister McGimpsey reminded her that he introduced a ‘zero tolerance’ campaign towards such behaviour in June 2007. Meanwhile, he explained that he intended to introduce two new pieces of legislation. One will allow staff to remove people from hospitals if they create a nuisance or a disturbance. Another piece of legislation will make it a specific offence to assault or impede a healthcare worker when they are carrying out their duties.
During his response, the Minister said: “Over recent years, the number of attacks on healthcare staff has risen dramatically. However, the number of attacks has plateaued over the last year and is now fairly stable.” Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the most recent figures were still too high.
Statistics from the North’s Department of Health show that from April 2004 to April 2005, there were 3,825 physical attacks on health and social care workers and 1,624 verbal assaults. In the same period, from 2005-2006, there were officially 3,590 physical and 1,792 verbal attacks. In 2006-2007, the statistics peaked with 4,283 physical and 1,727 verbal assaults. The latest figures, for 2007-2008, only refer to the six-month period from April to September 2007 and show 2,049 physical and 812 verbal attacks.
Astonishingly, for the year 2006-2007, about 56 per cent of attacks (3,377) were on nurses. In comparison, 107 were on doctors and 140 on ambulance staff.
h4. Zero tolerance
In response, the North’s Department of Health has claimed that 11,000 personal alarms were distributed free to health and social care workers. In addition, it has said that a senior director with responsibility for staff safety has been appointed within each health organisation. It added that health and social care employers are also ‘required to have robust zero-tolerance policies in place’.
Obviously, workers and their unions will monitor and, if necessary, criticise any potential failings in these Department of Health initiatives. However, at least the issue is being given some attention north of the border and moves are being made to try to deal with it.
When answering Mrs Bradley’s questions, the North’s Minister for Health explained that 75 per cent of attacks occur in mental health or community and home help environments. Six per cent occur in emergency departments while 19 per cent take place in general hospital wards — the latter figure being a somewhat surprising one.
As the debate proceeded, another MLA, the Ulster Unionist Party’s David McClarty, who represents East Derry, also intervened, explaining: “Over recent months, staff who work at the Causeway Hospital in my constituency have been subjected to some appalling physical attacks.”
Security guards are now deployed at that hospital’s emergency department. This follows on from the fact that a number of nurses were attacked by drunken people. In one incident, two women punched two nurses and threw a chair at other staff, while on another occasion, a nurse was slapped in the face.
Mr McClarty also wanted to know what the North’s Minister of Health would do to help health and social care workers who are assaulted but do not report the incident, for whatever reason.
h4. Astonishing statement
Minister McGimpsey said it is difficult to deal with attacks that are not reported and therefore personnel are encouraged to report assaults that happen to them. It was while he was answering Mr McClarty’s questions that the Minister made an astonishing statement: “As the legislation stands, if staff are attacked, they have to take the prosecution case themselves.” However, under the aforementioned legislation proposed by Minister McGimpsey, the protection of healthcare workers will be the responsibility of employers and health trusts and it will be up to them to take prosecution cases.
The issue of violence towards and verbal abuse of healthcare staff has hit the headlines in Northern Ireland on a fairly regular basis over the last number of years, which begs the question: what about the Republic? Surely similar incidents must happen here on a daily basis and yet there appears to be less concentration on the matter in this State. Is the Health Service Executive dropping the ball by not zoning in on the problem? Are journalists not adequately covering the issue? Or is it just a case that there are so many problems in our health service that, sometimes, attacks on our healthcare staff go relatively unnoticed by everyone except the health workers themselves?
Either way, the moves that are being made to tackle the problem north of the border (no matter how well they work or not) should be studied closely by everybody in the south with an interest in protecting the personnel who work in the health sector.