Prosecutions over NHS attacks rise
The number of people prosecuted over attacks on NHS staff has increased 15-fold, new figures show.
Department of Health statistics showed that there were 759 prosecutions in 2004-5, up from 51 in 2002-3.
The NHS Security Management Service has been taking action since 2003 to try and reduce the number of assaults on health staff, including the introduction of a national reporting scheme to track repeat offenders.
The organisation has also established a legal protection unit to ensure prosecutions are pursued and is currently negotiating an agreement with the Association of Chief Police Officers to foster greater co-operation between the two bodies in regard to investigating and prosecuting assaults.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt welcomed the increased number of prosecutions for assaults against NHS staff, but warned that the figures showed the extent of the problem.
“Violence against NHS staff is completely unacceptable,” she said.
“The huge increase in prosecutions demonstrates that we will take tough action against anyone who attacks them.”
“Although I am pleased with this increase, it also illustrates the extent of the problem.”
“Working with the NHS Security Management Service, I am determined to reduce the number of violent incidents occurring in the NHS. NHS staff should not have to tolerate abuse,” Ms Hewitt added.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned there was “still a long way to go” in tackling assaults against NHS staff, claiming that a number of attacks go unreported to police.
The nurses’ union claims that of 116,000 violent or verbal assaults against NHS staff in 2002-4, just five per cent were reported and only two per cent of offenders were prosecuted.
