Hundreds of acts of violence against NHS staff

Calls have been made for a zero tolerance approach to aggression against NHS workers after hundreds of incidents of violence were reported in one trust during 2023/24.

The figures, which were part of a report to a meeting of the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals board of directors, showed incidents included both verbal and physical assaults.

Out of the total 456 incidents reported – physical assaults accounted for 279 attacks on staff, with 177 incidents being verbal assaults.

Board chairman James Wilkie said the number was "a lot" and questioned whether other hospital trusts had the same number of incidents happening to their staff.

He said: "Are the approaches we have got in place satisfactory because this is something we really need to have zero tolerance on in terms of our commitment to the staff who work for us in very difficult circumstances on occasion."

He asked for further reports on the issue so the board could help the Trust deal with the problem.

Angela Parfitt, deputy director of quality governance at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said it had been nationally recognised that there had been an increase "in terms of violence and aggression within the NHS".

She added: "For us we have a more challenging demographic so we are higher but that is reflective of that, so we have to keep that balance in context."

She said the Trust's health and safety committee was carrying out work around sanctions to ensure there was consistency.

Training had also been offered to staff in how best to handle violence and aggression which the report said had "improved staff confidence in conflict resolution techniques" and was "reducing the risk to staff of verbal and physical assault."

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