- Conference
- 2006 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 21 December 2005
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
This Conference affirms that violence and aggression toward NHS staff is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Recent statistics show that the level of violence is worryingly high. All too familiar are the shocking reports we hear from nurses, paramedics and other health workers that they have been assaulted, punched, kicked, spat at and abused in the course of their work.
Results from the most recent NHS staff survey found that one in four health workers had been abused or harassed by patients or their relatives in the previous year. The risk of violence is even higher for certain groups – the British Crime Survey shows that one in three nurses have experienced harassment or assault by patients in the course of their careers. The effects of binge drinking and drug taking add to the work of hard-pressed accident and emergency workers, who daily face the blows and the abuse. The new licensing laws allowing 24-hour drinking will only make matters worse.
Conference notes that in 2003 the Department of Health created a new authority – the NHS Security Management Service – giving it overall responsibility for strategic and operational matters relating to the safety and security of staff, patients and property across the NHS (England.) The SMS’ strategy for creating a safer workplace for staff and promoting a pro-security culture in the NHS includes the introduction of conflict resolution skills training for all front-line staff, the appointment of a local security specialist in every health body, standardised incident reporting mechanisms, tougher penalties for offenders, and a legal protection unit to pursue cases where the police decide not to prosecute. UNISON is a key stakeholder on the SMS’ Strategy Group, responsible for directing the work of the Authority.
Positive results are beginning to emerge with recent figures showing a dramatic rise in the number of people convicted of assaults on NHS workers in England – 759 prosecutions in 2004/05 compared to just 51 in 2002/03. Whilst these figures are encouraging, Conference notes that this is only the tip of the iceberg and recognises that vast numbers of incidents still go unreported and a culture of abuse persists in many parts of the service. Abuse and violence has a devastating impact on staff. It seriously damages motivation and morale, and has a knock-on effect on the NHS’ ability to recruit and retain staff.
The Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 makes it a specific offence to assault, obstruct or hinder someone providing an emergency service or assisting an emergency worker in an emergency situation and carries a maximum penalty of nine months in prison, a fine of £5,000 or both. The Act covers ambulance workers and medical staff in hospitals including nurses and midwives. This recognition of the need to protect frontline staff is a big step in the right direction towards protecting all NHS staff.
However conference notes the research work carried out by the Scottish Executive to support the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 which highlighted the levels of abuse that Administrative and Clerical staff working in health establishments receive and the perception of the general public that these individuals deserve to be abused. This group of staff are not covered under the current legislation but deserve the same protection as their clinical colleagues.
This Conference therefore calls upon the Service Group Executive Committee:
i.To continue working closely with the NHS Security Management Service to ensure that the strategy for creating a safer workplace for NHS staff is implemented and embedded in the service. Also to ensure this is a priority issue for the newly established Health & Safety subgroup of the NHS Staff Council;
ii.To urge branches to work in partnership with local employers to adopt robust safety measures, policies and procedures to protect staff from violence and to pursue prosecutions against assailants whenever possible. Measures to include routine risk assessments; appropriate training and education for staff; robust reporting and follow-up action – along side effective partnership working with other public agencies including the police service.
iii.To encourage the development of communication links between NHS organisations in the four UK countries to share good practice approaches to tackling violence;
iv.To continue to campaign for additional legal protection which will send a clear message to patients and the public that violent and abusive behaviour toward health staff will lead to prosecution.