The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 came into force in November 2018. A new joint agreement to ensure more effective investigations and prosecutions of cases is available from the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS).
Joint agreement on Offences against Emergency Workers
The joint agreement involving the NHS England & NHS Improvement, and other stakeholders, underpins the provisions outlined within the 2018 Act and sets out the standards which victims of these crimes can expect. It also makes reference to the Guidance on Management of Potential Exposure to blood-borne viruses in emergency workers.
The definition of an emergency worker in the 2018 Act, goes beyond specific titles and jobs, and extends to persons whose roles bring them within the definition.
For the NHS this is:
- A person employed for the purposes of providing or engaged to provide NHS health services – and whose general activities in doing so involve face to face interaction with (i) individuals receiving the services or (ii) with other members of the public
- A person employed for the purposes of providing or engaged to provide services in the support of the provision of NHS health services – and whose general activities in doing so involve face to face interaction with (i) individuals receiving the services or (ii) with other members of the public.
The Joint Agreement is an intrinsic part of the NHS Violence Reduction programme as cited in the NHS Long Term Plan where it states “we will not tolerate violence against NHS staff and, where justified, will always seek to prosecute incidents of verbal and physical abuse”.
The NHS Social Partnership Forum has a specific national group to work in partnership on violence reduction. You can find more information and useful resources here.
Social Partnership Forum – creating a culture of safety sub-group
You can see our position on the issue of violence here
UNISON Big issues – Violence in the NHS
You can access the CPS website to see the guidance and the joint agreement
Here is the specific legislation
Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018