Drink ‘cause of most assaults in hospital’

THERE were 61 assaults on staff at Kerry General Hospital in Tralee in the past year and most were by people under the influence of alcohol or other substances.

The growing number of assaults is a major cause of concern among staff who fear for their safety.

Two people have been before Tralee Court arising from such incidents and two more cases are pending, according to hospital head of security Matt O’Donoghue.

Between last September and February of this year, there have been 150 reports of incidents, half of which were in the A&E department. A security officer is in the A&E unit 24 hours a day.

Some arose from impatience, or as a result of a traumatic incident.

A total of 61 violent incidents against staff, including actual assaults, threats of assaults and verbal abuse, were reported to the occupational health department over the period.

Thirty-two actual assaults were reported, 15 on nurses, 15 on security staff, one a paramedic and one on a support staff member.

“The situation is on par with other hospitals and staff are now being encouraged to report incidents,” said Mr O’Donoghue.

During Christmas, A&E staff put up with what was described as “disgraceful” conduct by a 20-year-old Tralee woman, who kicked, screamed and lashed out at them, also delivering a torrent of verbal abuse. She has since appeared at the local court before Judge Terence Finn, who put her on a curfew and ordered her to abstain from alcohol.

While staff are reporting most incidents, sources within the hospital said not all cases, especially those of verbal abuse, were reported to management.

Nurses are by far the most verbally abused staff members, accounting for 10 of the 19 such reports.

The majority of the incidents occurred late at night, with alcohol and drugs being a key factor.

The Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) has expressed concern about the situation and has suggested that waiting times for treatment were causing a lot of frustration.

An INO spokesman also maintained that the number of incidents could be a lot higher than the reported cases.

“Research has shown that there is a huge under-reporting of incidents of this nature within A&E facilities because it has become the norm, regrettably, for our members to be at the receiving end of public frustration,” he said.

“I would suggest that if a concerted review was done of such incidents in the A&E in Tralee the figures would be much higher.” But despite being in the front line, nurses had a right to work in an appropriate and safe environment and they should be protected in their place of work, he said.

There was a need for increased staffing levels to alleviate delays and frustration people were experiencing.