55% of psychiatrists have been attacked by patients

MORE THAN half of all consultant psychiatrists working in Ireland have been physically assaulted by their patients, with one in five stating they feel “stalked” while on duty.

A study of the profession has found that despite promised safety improvements in the aftermath of a 2008 double stabbing at a mental health facility, doctors are continuing to be put at risk.

According to the study – conducted by Dr Annette Kavanagh of the HSE’s general adult psychiatry service in north Dublin and Dr Liam Watters, clinical director of St Senan’s Hospital in Co Wexford – 55% of medics working in the field have been physically attacked while at work.

The research, published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, found that 90% of staff have suffered from significant verbal intimidation or threatening behaviour. A total of 56% of the 159 consultant psychiatrists in the survey said they felt safe at work, but 30% said they were either uncertain about their safety or believed they were at risk of assault.

Of those who were attacked, one in five required medical treatment for their injuries, while just over 16% said they felt like they were being “stalked” while on duty.

Male patients aged between 21 and 40 were most likely to attack or intimidate medical staff. Within this group, patients who have been given a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia (32% of all physical assaults registered in the study), personality disorder (14.7%) and bipolar affective disorder (12.8%) are among the most likely to be involved in an incident.

All of the categories were far more likely to be connected to an attack or a form of intimidating behaviour than patients suffering from substance abuse.

Two out of three incidents involved patients who had relapsed from a previous diagnosis, with half of the perpetrators having a history of violence.

The findings emerged two years after Dr Ananth Pulella and Dr Catherine Burnstwere stabbed at St Anne’s Day Hospital in Co Limerick by a male patient they were treating.

Anthony McMahon, a 31-year-old who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia characterised by megalomani and delusions of persecution, was arrested at the scene. He had been released from prison a year earlier where he had been serving a sentence for stabbing a man to death.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association called for an urgent review of safety precautions for medics working in the speciality area in the wake of the attack. However, the up-to-date safety survey published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine found the majority of staff working in the service believe standard workplace safety equipment is not readily available.