A huge number of staff at Teesside’s biggest health trust say they have been assaulted at work.
Results from the NHS staff survey show that one in six working at South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust - which runs James Cook University Hospital - have been the victim of violence while at work.
That’s highest level for at least five years, when the survey question was introduced in its current form.
And dozens of staff say they have been assaulted more than ten times in 2017, the survey showed.
Health chiefs say it’s a positive sign that staff are feeling confident enough to come forward and report the abuse - and that it shows their “zero tolerance” approach to intentional acts of violence on their staff are working.
Kevin Oxley, director of estates, ICT and health care records, said his trust “actively encourages all of our people to report incidents”.
“This has resulted in more incidents being reported over the last year and we view this as a positive step,” he said.
“All intentional incidents are reported to police as part of our zero tolerance approach and we fully support staff in seeking to prosecute offenders.
“The vast majority of incidents reported are classed as ‘not intentional’.
“All reports of violence and aggression are investigated internally and frontline staff are offered training on dealing with potential acts of violence and aggression.
“Our security measures comply with NHS Protect Security Management Standards, and we employ a full on-site security service with trained personnel available 24 hours a day to respond to emergency situations. We deploy attack alarms for staff when appropriate and in extreme circumstances deploy a security guard to monitor individual patients identified as a risk.”
At North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust, 14.8% of staff reported experiencing physical violence, which is down from 19.2% in 2016.
Teesside Live reported this month how student paramedic Oliver Evans was attacked by a patient, Amanda Wray, at her Billingham home.
He said he’d had a knife pulled on him, been threatened with a needle and spat at - just for doing his job.
And in 2016, we reported how Natasha Louise Close kicked and punched three nurses in a vicious assault at the University Hospital of North Tees A&E, as well as a police officer.
The Violence Against Emergency Workers Bill, which is being considered by the House of Lords, includes proposals to make it a specific offence to physically assault health care staff and other emergency workers.
It also proposes tougher sentences for people who carry out such attacks, after bodies such as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), lobbied to extend to cover all staff employed to provide NHS services, and to cover sexual assault as well as physical assault.
British Medical Association representative body chair, Dr Anthea Mowat, said: “As pressure on services mount, the knock-on impact of increased waiting times and worsening access to care, can lead to greater patient frustration and increased tension.
“But, in addition to the necessary investment in services which we need to help alleviate this frustration, we also need measures to tackle the underlying causes and stop the offences occurring in the first place.”
