Responding to the Care Quality Commission’s report today (Thursday) on safety standards in A&E departments, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “This is the umpteenth warning that the NHS is under extreme pressure.
“Inadequate funding means services and staff are stretched to the limit, and patients are being put at risk.
“For staff working in an unsafe environment on a daily basis it’s a nightmare, when all they’re trying to do is deliver compassionate care.
“Recent UNISON research showed that in 2016/2017 attacks on health workers in hospitals with A&E departments was up by a fifth on the previous year.”
Notes to editors:
– Research published last month by UNISON and HSJ revealed that last year in England physical assaults on NHS staff rose by nearly 10% compared to 2015/16. The figures were obtained following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request – submitted by HSJ working on behalf of UNISON – to all the 244 NHS trusts in England. The biggest increase was in the acute sector, with reported attacks on health workers in hospitals with an A&E department up 21%.
