HSE must prosecute wrongdoers - Hospital attacks

WALK into almost any emergency department in a state hospital and you will be met by posters prominently declaring that assaults or abusive behaviour towards staff will not be tolerated. It is not a pleasant sight but a necessary one.

As our report today reveals, misbehaviour towards medical and support staff is an everyday reality. The figures are staggering: almost 3,500 staff in HSE-run hospitals were assaulted last year, many of them physically injured.

If that was happening on such a scale in any other workplace it would results in hundreds if not thousands of prosecutions for criminal conduct.