Attacks against hospital staff on the increase
Reported incidents, including actual assaults, threats of assault and verbal abuse, rose from 73 in 2004 to 135 in 2005. Four nurses recently sustained minor injuries when assaulted by a patient who had become violent in the hospital.
Hospital deputy general manager Kathleen Jordan said any incident of violence towards staff was considered serious and, unless the incident related to a perpetrator’s medical condition, it was referred to the gardaí.
She said staff were encouraged to report all incidents to their line manager so the appropriate support could be provided through the employee assistance programme or occupational health department.
“This encouragement is reflected in the figures as there has been an increase in the number of reported incidents against staff at Kerry General Hospital in 2005,” Ms Jordan stated.
She also said the HSE South had a policy and guidelines for preventing and responding to violence and to reduce the risk of violence in the workplace.
“Training for all front-line staff in critical preventative incident training is ongoing, with the next round of training is scheduled to take place in the second week of May,” Ms Jordan added.
“Training programmes focus on the prevention of violence occurring, and on up-skilling staff to enable them to deal with incidents, should they occur.”
There is 24-hour security at Kerry General Hospital.
Meanwhile, Kerry South Labour TD Breeda Moynihan Cronin has claimed that, on a recent weekend, patients in the hospital’s A&E unit did not even have the luxury of a trolley.
“They were forced to lean against the walls while being connected to a drip,” she said. “The medical staff were dealing with three patients per cubicle. The conditions for staff and patients are just appalling.”
Ms Moynihan Cronin said the Tralee hospital had lost an A&E consultant recently because of the crisis.
Also, community activists in the Kenmare area are stepping up their campaign to secure a start date for the construction of a 14-bed extension to the local community hospital.
A meeting of community councils within the greater Kenmare area is due to take place this week. Some people in the area have threatened to march on Leinster House if the green light for the long-awaited project is not given soon.
However, Minister of State for Health, Tim O’Malley, has said the extension will not begin this year, but will be considered in the capital programme, which will run until 2010.
