Front-line NHS staff bear brunt of violence

VIOLENCE against hospital and mental health staff in Oldham has risen.

But Oldham Primary Care Trust has bucked the national trend after assaults against GPs and trust workers tumbled.

Last year, staff at the Pennine Acute Trust, which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital, suffered 174 incidents, 54 more than the previous year.

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services for Oldham patients, dealt with 737 incidents, an increase of 90.

But Oldham Primary Care Trust recorded just two attacks in 2007-08 compared with 15 the previous year.

North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS) saw incidents rise to 234 attacks.

Last month, two ambulance crew members locked themselves in a downstairs room after being threatened after responding to an incident in Vale Drive, Coldhurst.

New figures show that more than 2,400 NHS staff were assaulted in Greater Manchester last year.

Nationally, the figure was 55,993 assaults, a rise of 284 incidents.

A spokesman for Pennine Acute Trust said: “Although the national statistics have seen a rise, we believe that this is down to an improvement in reporting incidents rather than a rise in actual assaults.

“The Trust would like to reiterate that none of its staff should be abused while they are trying to help people.”

A spokeswoman for Pennine Care Mental Health Trust said: “Incident reporting continues to be a major theme for the organisation, to ensure that all staff and service users report all assaults or incidents no matter how minor.”

Oldham PCT has a number of training programmes and policies in place including installing security equipment and signage including CCTV.

Shauna Dixon, director of clinical leadership said: “We are committed to protecting our staff and we have a zero tolerance policy towards those who are abusive.”

Delwyn Wray, NWAS area director for Greater Manchester said: “The protection of our staff is particularly important to us. We are working on a number of campaigns and initiatives designed to keep them safe.”

UNISON has called for tough action to cut down on violence as fewer than one in 50 attacks led to a prosecution.