Health Bodies Call For Support In 'Push Back' Against Incidents Of Abuse

The Health Minister Robin Swann has given his supports to a call from NI's health bodies and the Fire and Rescue Services for help to "push back" against abuse and violence being faced by healthcare staff.

The chairs of the health bodies and the Fire and Rescue Service have issued a joint call for the public and for politicians to support staff following increases in levels of violence against staff.

Minister Swann said: "As Minister, I take the issue of abuse towards staff extremely seriously. Everyone has the right to feel safe from the threat of violence and aggression in the workplace. Staff spend their working days caring for others and saving lives, and their safety should be paramount. It is wholly unacceptable that they should be abused or attacked in the course of their duties."

Available data suggests there were over 5,500 attacks on staff reported in the 6 months to March 2021; The vast majority of these attacks (over 80%) are classified as physical.

The Minister added: "I am committed to reducing the risk of violence and aggression wherever possible and creating a safe environment for staff, patients and others who use the services. Unfortunately we are seeing a rise in numbers of attacks and we must all as a society reject such despicable behaviour and protect our frontline staff and services. They are already facing unprecedented pressures and need our support now more than ever."

Each HSC Trust currently operates a local Zero Tolerance on Abuse of Staff Policy and whilst it is recognised that incidents of an aggressive or violent nature cannot be fully eliminated by policy alone, this provides a means to manage and minimise the risk to employees.

The policies aim to ensure that all staff are aware of, and are protected from, as far as is reasonably practical, violent or potentially violent situations that may occur within Trust facilities and/or whilst staff are on duty.

Trusts have established a regional Zero Tolerance Task and Finish Group which has been working in collaboration with a range of key stakeholders to develop a regional Managing Violence and Aggression policy framework.