NHS staff abusers 'face big fine'
NHS staff abusers 'face big fine'
People who abuse or threaten nurses and doctors in England will face fines of up to £1,000, health secretary Patricia Hewitt has told a union conference. She told the GMB's health conference there would be a 'zero tolerance' approach, adding that the government wanted to 'send a clear message" threats will not be tolerated.' Since the establishment of the NHS Security Management Service in 2003 there has been a 15-fold increase in the number of people prosecuted for attacking NHS staff. A Department of Health spokesperson said: "It is a sad fact around one in four of our nurses and doctors have suffered verbal abuse and been threatened by patients or relatives that they are trying to help. We want to send a clear message to the public that this will not be tolerated and anyone who threatens or verbally abuses our staff will be removed from the premises and could face a fine of up to £1,000.' However, health service union UNISON said the changes did not going far enough. 'UNISON welcomes this zero tolerance approach as abusive language and threatening behaviour often escalates into violence,' said the union's health of health, Karen Jennings. 'However, we are also calling for a tougher approach to those who are assaulting. We would like a new offence introduced into law - the assault on a public worker - which would be treated the same as an assault on a police officer.' Survey findings published this week by the Royal College of Nursing said violence against nursing staff is increasing, with 80 per cent of A&E nurses reporting harassment or an assault in the past year, and a quarter of the 3,000 nurses surveyed saying they had been physically attacked.
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