Physical assaults against NHS staff in England have risen in the last year – with a significant increase in incidents involving medical factors.
The statistics, collated by NHS Protect, are based on figures submitted by 425 health bodies employing well in excess of a million staff and contractors. They show assaults on NHS staff that involve medical factors – for example, where an assault is related to a patient’s condition – and those where medical factors are absent. In cases involving medical factors, the assailant may not be considered legally culpable for their actions and a successful criminal sanction against them may be unlikely.
Overall, there was a rise of 3.3 per cent in total reported assaults on NHS staff, from 57,830 in 2010/11 to 59,744 in 2011/12. However, assaults involving medical factors rose far more sharply, from 39,770 in 2010/11 to 46,265 in 2011/12 – a 16.3-per-cent increase.
Despite the rise in reported incidents, total sanctions fell – from 1397 in 2010/11 to 1257 last year.
Head of Local Support and Development Services at NHS Protect Richard Hampton stressed that there is no room for complacency and vowed to examine why there has been a rise in assaults involving medical factors.
He said: “It is important that good practice continues to be shared, to even out differences between trusts and focus on best practice in this area. For an injured member of staff, the question of whether an assault is medically-caused may seem irrelevant, and they rightly expect to receive the best possible protection against such incidents.”€
