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Attacks at Leeds hospitals on rise EXCLUSIVE
HOSPITAL staff in Leeds were subjected to nearly 200 attacks in 12 months.
Physical assaults on health workers were up 20 per cent on the previous year, to the equivalent of almost four a week.
Intruder alarms and 100 security cameras have been installed to protect staff.
And smoking shelters have been introduced to reduce the number of potential flash points as staff challenge smokers.
Craige Richardson, head of operational services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Physical abuse against our hospital staff is totally unacceptable and is something we quite rightly have a zero tolerance approach to.
“Hospital employees in whatever role have the right to come to work without worrying they will be a victim of aggression or violence and we are doing everything in our power to keep all our staff safe and to deter and defuse potential trouble before it escalates.”
Latest figures showed there were 126 physical assaults on clinical workers and 67 on non-clinical employees between April 2010 and March last year.
Mr Richardson added: “Incidents are fortunately still rare, and the number recorded needs to be seen in the context of well over a million patients who visit Leeds hospitals every year including two very large, busy sites, one of which is right in the city centre. We work closely with West Yorkshire Police to keep our hospitals safe and with their help take a hard line against offenders whenever there is a realistic chance of prosecution.”
Since 2007, 17 anti social behaviour orders have been obtained against people who had committed crimes on hospital sites.
Director of estates and facilities Mick Taylor said there had been a reorganisation of security, including centralising the control room last year.
More intruder alarm systems have been installed, 100 security cameras have been upgraded or put in and 1,000 staff have been trained in personal safety.
Hospital bosses were quizzed on the trust’s smoking policy as there is a ban, but smoking shelters have been reinstalled.
Trust chief executive Maggie Boyle said: “We have come to the conclusion that with the best will in the world we are not going to be able to stop people everywhere.
“But what we could do is prevent them from smoking in certain areas, like the entrances to our hospitals.”
Last January, Leeds Crown Court heard that a drunken man fired a ball bearing pistol six times in the accident and emergency department at St James’s Hospital after having to wait for an hour.
Stephen Evans, of Garton Terrace, East End Park, pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm and was given a nine month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a 12-month community order with a requirement to attend an alcohol treatment programme.
The receptionist and the man who tackled Evans were said to have been left badly shaken.
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Weather for Leeds
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Comments
There are 2 comments to this article
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OWNMIND
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 10:53 AMDon’t treat them. If some junkie, boozed up piece of flotsam or just plain nasty violent scumbag decides that medical staff are there to be abused then chuck em out regardless of injury. The staff, hospital and indeed the city will be a better place without them.
Paul Webb
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 02:38 PMWhy has it taken so long for these figures to be released? It's almost March 2012!
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