Sharp rise in violence against hospital staff in Coventry and Rugby

[dutchman]

Reported attacks on University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust staff rise



Assaults on staff at Coventry and Rugby hospitals have nearly tripled in six years.

A total of 253 assaults on workers at University Hospital Coventry and Rugby’s Hospital of St Cross at were recorded in 2015/16. That's up from 89 recorded in 2010/11.

Some of the assaults were by people who were violent because of their medical condition.

Other people became violent as a side effect of the medication they had been prescribed by doctors.

Leaving out those people there were 27 assaults in 2010/2011 and 59 in 2015/2016. These numbers include people who were violent because of alcohol or recreational drugs.

A spokesperson from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said: “We take both patient safety and the safety of our staff, extremely seriously.

“NHS staff work directly for the benefit of the public, and it is not acceptable for them to be the subject of violence while caring for patients.

“We actively encourage all members of staff to report any such incidents.”

NHS figures show there were 20,018 assaults on staff across England in 2015/16, a 49 per cent rise from 13,436 in 2010/11, as the number of assaults has risen steadily over the six-year period.

[rebbonk]

Attacks by people because of their condition (mental patients etc.) I can regrettably understand, and to a certain extent I think they go with the job. Any other attacks though, are totally unacceptable. I would suggest that many of these attacks are down to drink and drugs and the sheer frustration of the hospital system. How you separate the drink and drugs cases from the mental ones though, I really don't know; as these often go hand in hand.