UK: Punched, kicked and bitten – but assaults on Bristol NHS staff rarely lead to an arrest

from ThisIsBristol.co.uk

More than 650 NHS staff were attacked in Bristol hospitals last year – but fewer than one in five incidents led to police arrests, new figures obtained by the Evening Post reveal.

Over the past year, hospital workers have had to endure punches, kicks to the face and attacks with walking sticks.

In at least 42 cases, staff members were scratched so hard that the attacker drew blood and 33 workers were punched in the face.

Despite this, arrests have only occurred in 18 per cent of cases.

Overall, Bristol’s hospital staff endured more than 650 verbal and physical attacks and yet only 120 people were arrested.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, are for the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), which runs eight city-centre sites including the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) and Children’s Hospital; and the North Bristol Trust (NBT), which runs Frenchay and Southmead hospitals.

They refer to the financial year from 2008 to 2009.

At UHB, cases of physical abuse on hospital premises have increased by over 150 per cent, increasing from 47 to 126 incidents.

The overall number of attacks at both trusts was probably higher because NBT did not provide details of verbal assaults on staff.

In 2007-08 even fewer people were taken into custody: only 77 people were arrested despite 554 attacks being recorded.

Karen Jennings, of the health workers union Unison, demanded a zero-tolerance approach to violence in hospitals.

She said: “It’s not good enough, not only would we like to see more people arrested if they attack public sector staff, we would like to see tougher penalties for these offences.

“If you attack a police officer you know that you will have the book thrown at you and it should be a similar offence to attack hospital staff.

“It’s important that people can be confident at work and that they can work safely. We lose good people in the health service all the time because they are intimidated and frightened and don’t want to return to work.”

Sgt Mark Alderton of Avon and Somerset police emphasised that the force takes assaults against NHS staff very seriously.

He said: “We work closely with employees and the trust to investigate any allegations fully to ensure the safety of staff at hospitals across the force area.”

The vast majority of arrests that did occur took place at the city-centre hospitals run by the UH Bristol. They recorded 126 physical assaults and 118 arrests.

Adrian Ruck, spokesperson for UHB said: “Violence against our staff is unacceptable. The trust encourages all of its staff to report physical assaults and we support action against offenders.”

In contrast, NBT recorded only two arrests in the past year, both of which occurred in instances when members of the public, not patients, attacked staff. The trust has a policy of not routinely reporting ‘clinical’ assaults – assaults by patients on staff – to the police.

An NBT spokesman said: “The majority of our patient assaults are ‘clinical’ assaults where, due to the nature of the patients we care for, their medication or their illness, many are not aware of what they’re doing. Very few assaults result in any injury.”

However, the information released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that NHS staff at these hospitals have been subject to throttling, bites, headbutts and spitting. These incidents are not reported to the police because they are termed ‘clinical’.