Now protect all health workers, days UNISON
Now protect all health workers, says UNISON
A law aimed at protecting emergency workers should be strengthened to cover all health workers, the union UNISON has said. The Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act, which came into force on 20 February, means that anyone who deliberately obstructs a worker responding to an emergency situation can now be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000. Emergency staff covered under this new offence include ambulance workers, coastguards and lifeboat crews, firefighters and people transporting blood, organs or equipment on behalf of the NHS. But UNISON says such laws should cover all health workers, and that the punishment meted out by the courts should be a lot firmer. UNISON head of health Karen Jennings said: 'We do welcome and support these new laws, but we urgently need to include all health workers to give them extra protection in the line of duty. Despite some progress being made - especially in the field of prevention and training - still too many UNISON members are telling us that they feel like they have been hit twice, because the penalties meted out by the courts are so paltry.' Announcing the new law, Home Office minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: 'The government is committed to ensuring the safety of those serving their communities. Too often emergency workers are unable to get to incidents as quickly as they should due to a minority of people obstructing their rescue efforts.' He added: 'Such behaviour will not be tolerated, and deliberate attempts to obstruct or prevent emergency workers, or anyone assisting them, from doing their very difficult jobs, will face a stiff penalty.' In May 2005, the Scottish parliament brought in laws that made assaulting a member of the emergency services a specific offence. Offenders in Scotland face up to nine months in prison or a £5,000 fine (Risks 206).
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