McGimpsey reinforces “zero tolerance” on attacks on staff

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Police and Public Prosecution Services to ensure the protection of health service staff.

Healthcare staff and emergency services continue to be subjected to verbal and physical abuse on a daily basis. Last year alone there were over 8,000 cases of verbal and physical abuse against healthcare staff.

Mr McGimpsey said: “I wish to reinforce the message of zero tolerance: zero tolerance on attacks; zero tolerance on abuse; and zero tolerance on threatening behaviour.

“Anti social behaviour in hospitals and attacks on healthcare workers is a serious issue and is one that I am working in partnership with the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to address.

“However, it is not an issue that can be solved by the policing or justice system alone. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that people dedicated to caring for the community receive the respect they deserve and are allowed to do their duties free from abuse.

“Every day lost to sickness following an assault on healthcare staff makes it harder for patients to receive the care they need. In addition, this can put the provision of that care under great financial pressure.”

T/Chief Superintendent Andrew McQuiggan, PSNI said: "Health care staff deserve to be protected as they carry out their important duties caring for everyone in our communities. Police are determined to play our part in ensuring staff are protected and that those who break the law are subjected to the full rigour of the law."

Welcoming the Memorandum of Understanding, Pamela Atchison, Senior Assistant Director, PPS said: “Offences committed against persons serving the public are wholly unacceptable and, where there is sufficient evidence, the fact that the offence was committed against a person serving the public will be a strong factor in favour of prosecution. The PPS is committed to working in partnership with the Department and the PSNI to ensure that health and social care workers are able to continue to provide their vital services to the community.”

Mr McGimpsey also outlined other measures he is taking to address this issue. He said: “To further reinforce the Zero Tolerance message, I am about to commence new legislation which will allow the removal of individuals who create a nuisance or disturbance from hospital premises.

“This will enable HSC staff to deal with this behaviour before it escalates to more serious incidents, which will help ensure that hospitals are safer for both staff and patients.

“We must stamp out any physical or verbal attacks on staff and allow them to provide the care and support that patients deserve.

“The aim is simple: to protect the Health Service so that it can better protect the public’s health.”

Notes to editors:

1. Table of statistics can be viewed online.

2. The Memorandum document can be viewed online.

3. Analysis of the data indicates that the both verbal and physical assaults continue to increase. The various Trusts’ have suggested that the reason for the rise is as follows:

• An increase number of staff reporting incidents, this is due to delivery of intensive incident management training along with improvements to the process of how incidents are reported and recorded.
• A proportion of the statistics can be attributed to a small number of patients (adolescents) with significant mental illness.

4. To further reinforce the Zero Tolerance message new legislation is about to be commenced that allow the removal of individuals who create a nuisance or disturbance from hospital premises. This will enable HSC staff to deal with this behaviour before it escalates to more serious incidents, which will help ensure that hospitals are safer for both staff and patients.

5. All Hospital Trusts operate a robust Zero Tolerance policy to protect patients and staff against acts of violence or abusive behaviour. This includes dedicated staff training and provision of personal protection alarms. In addition there is also a dedicated senior director in each health and social care organisation who has responsibility for staff safety.

6. Media enquiries to the DHSSPS Press Office on 028 9052 2841. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Office via pager number on 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.