Hospital safety plan ‘fails to halt attacks on staff’

THE gardaí’s Hospital Watch Scheme has not curbed the level of assaults on hospital staff, according to the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO).

Gardaí say the scheme has reduced the number of attacks on nurses but Liam Doran, general secretary of the INO, insisted yesterday the level of assaults was still ‘appalling’.

“The Hospital Watch Scheme has a role to play in adjusting social behaviour but it does not seem to be diminishing incidents of alcohol-fuelled assaults occurring particularly at weekends,” he said.

It is estimated that more than two violent assaults take place every week in hospitals, with a far greater number of incidents of verbal abuse.

The statistics show that half of hospital staff are victims of, or threatened with, violence. Those in areas such as accident and emergency wards and psychiatric hospitals face an even higher risk.

Hospital Watch Schemes, introduced in a number of hospitals and health boards in the last year, have reported an overall improvement in crime levels.

John Hennessy, general manager for the Mid Western regional hospitals, including Limerick and Ennis, said garda patrols have helped reduce the number of attacks.

“Our statistics show since 2002 that crime at the hospital has in fact decreased. This is definitely attributed to a garda presence,” he said.

However, Mr Doran said the problem was still at crisis point and was most acute in major hospitals in urban areas.

“Verbal assaults are now the norm and physical assaults are a regular occurrence. Our biggest fear now is that these have become so commonplace that staff are no longer reporting them. It is essential that each and every incident is reported because we need that to help us build a case for enhanced security.”

Mr Doran blamed hospital management for failing to provide enough visible security.

“We have constantly complained to hospital management about this. They are not up-front enough in dealing with it and the result is that our members bear the brunt of this totally unacceptable behaviour.”

Mr Doran added that the only way to halt the practice was for abusers to be brought before the courts.

The safety scheme was set up with gardaí which included an upgraded CCTV system, personal alarms for staff, a garda phone link and swipe access to ‘high risk’ areas.

Mick McMahon, chief security officer at Cork University Hospital, said crime figures for 2003 were down on 2002.