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Every day there were around 22 cases of violence and aggression against NHS staff in Wales during 2003/04, according to new Wales Audit Office figures. A report, published today by the Auditor General for Wales, estimates the annual costs of staff replacement, legal bills, training and security exceeds £6 million.
A number of positive steps have been taken by NHS Trusts and the Welsh Assembly Government to tackle the problem. These include the development of the Violence and Aggression Passport (see Notes to Editors) and the injection of £1million a year by Welsh NHS Trusts to provide staff training. But the report says more can be done and identifies several problems which still need to be addressed. For example, there are difficulties with Trusts sharing information on known offenders and evidence that some Trusts experience difficulties releasing staff for important training.
The report “Protecting NHS Trust staff from violence and aggression” provides the first all-Wales data on the number of incidents of violence and aggression reported in the financial years between 2001/02 and 2003/04. It found that nurses, midwives and health visitors experience higher levels of violent and aggressive incidents than other staff. There are also a high number of incidents in the mental health, general medicine and learning disabilities sector. And the figures could be even higher because of under reporting and the inconsistent definitions of violence and aggression used by NHS Trusts.
In all, the report makes nine recommendations under the following headings:
- the Welsh Assembly Government and Trusts should address high risk areas;
- Trusts should strengthen their arrangements for reporting and recording incidents;
- once robust systems are in place, the Welsh Assembly Government and Trusts should monitor levels of violence and aggression; and
- the Welsh Assembly Government and Trusts should improve access to training for staff.
Auditor General, Jeremy Colman said today:
“Improving staff safety is already a high priority for both NHS trusts and the Welsh Assembly Government. But improvements need to be made to the handling of incidents, the provision of training and inter-agency working, so that NHS staff in Wales can continue to carry out the vital work they do, without fear of intimidation and attack.”
Notes to Editors:
- The NHS is the largest employer in Wales and has a legal duty to protect its staff. Violence and aggression not only has an emotional and physical impact on individual victims, but the consequences, such as stress and staff absence, can hinder patient care and leads to significant financial costs.
- This report focuses on all violence, verbal and physical, against all staff in NHS trusts perpetrated by patients, their friends and relatives. This covers staff in NHS Trusts but does not include Local Health Boards or primary care services provided by GP’s and their staff. However, it does include Powys Local Health Board, as they also provide acute services and we refer to them as one of the NHS Trusts.
- NHS trusts in Wales employ over 87,000 staff, accounting for more than seven per cent of the Welsh workforce.
- In 2003/4, NHS Trust staff reported 7,971 incidents of violence and aggression, the equivalent of 22 incidents occurring each day somewhere in Wales.
- In September 2004, the Welsh Assembly Government launched the “All Wales NHS Violence and Aggression Training Passport and Information Scheme”. Developed by NHS Wales staff, it provides detailed guidance in key areas and reduces the risk of duplication of training.
- The Wales Audit Office is independent of government and is responsible for the annual audit of some £19 billion of annual public expenditure.
- The Wales Audit Office was created on 1st April 2005 through the Public Audit (Wales) Act, 2004, which expanded the functions of the Auditor General for Wales and enabled the transfer of staffs from the Audit Commission in Wales and National Audit Office in Wales to his employment.
For more information please contact Rachel Harries (Communications and Media Officer) on 02920 262 675.
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