Crimewave in hospitals

Firearms incidents, sexual offences, violence, robbery and drug crimes are detailed in figures obtained by The Argus under the Freedom Of Information Act.

Details obtained from Sussex Police show that in 12 Sussex hospitals during 2004/5:

Officers attended each hospital on average 192 times - almost four times a week.

There were 91 cases of violence.

They dealt with 24 allegations of sexual offences.

39 calls were about thefts.

Three incidents were drug-related and a further four involved firearms.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the data highlighted what NHS staff had to face every day.

The figures follow news of 163 assaults on hospital staff working for the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath among others, during the same time period.

Delilah Hesling, who works at the Royal Sussex in Emergency Care and is the RCN representative, said: "There is quite a high incidence of crimes against workers particularly on a Friday and Saturday night. Violence is one of the major problems that health workers face and one of the reasons I stopped working in Accident and Emergency when I was in London.

"Nurses are notorious for tolerating abuse even though they know they shouldn't. I have been punched, pushed around and slapped before."

Ms Hesling, who has been a nurse for 18 years, said staff underwent lots of training to learn how to diffuse difficult situations and deal with angry or aggressive people and the trust operated a robust policy to guard against it.

The Royal Sussex accumulated the most call-outs, with a total of 568 between April 1, 2004 and March 31, 2005. This was closely followed by Eastbourne District General Hospital with 453, Conquest Hospital in St Leonards with 342, St Richard's in Chichester with 289 and Worthing General with 267.

A spokesman from the British Medial Association said: "Sadly these figures are not untypical. Hospital staff have to put up with a lot. Violence and abuse from patients are alarmingly common.

"Harassment of doctors and nurses should be recognised as a form of bullying and trusts should provide appropriate support for staff experiencing it. Assaults on NHS staff should be dealt with the same way as assaults on law enforcement officers."

A Sussex Police spokeswoman confirmed calls to deal with violent patients were a serious issue.

She said: "We receive a number of calls to deal with unruly patients and to escort them from buildings. They may be drunk or violent."

Hospitals have been forced to invest in costly CCTV and security systems to deter the abuse.

At Worthing General, staff are awaiting a new £22,500 CCTV system which would increase the number of cameras from 23 to 32.

East Sussex Hospitals Trust, which runs the Conquest and Eastbourne General, provides staff with swipe cards to open doors to restrict access to certain areas and promotes the NHS Zero Tolerance campaign towards verbal and physical abuse.

A spokesman said the NHS Security Management Service also brought in security specialists regarded as hospital "bobbies" to cut crime.

He said: "Unfortunately the trust will never exist in a 100 per cent crime-free environment but we take violence seriously in all its forms and aim to deliver a safe and secure environment for all those who work in or use the NHS."

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Crawley Hospital, said people who were abusive to staff faced verbal warnings, court action or being banned from the premises.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has 150 CCTV cameras at its five hospital sites as well as panic alarms for staff, access control, security lighting and a team of two dozen fully-trained security officers who provide a 24-hour security service.

Front-line staff are given training in conflict resolution and are encouraged to report any violent or threatening behaviour.

A spokeswoman said: "The trust takes the security and welfare of its staff and patients very seriously and is committed to providing a safe working environment for staff.

"Our security department liaises closely with Sussex Police and the trust will pursue offenders for prosecution in all appropriate cases."

Police were called the Royal Sussex for 41 incidents of nuisance behaviour, 24 violent offences, three sexual offences, one robbery and one drugs related incident.

At the Princess Royal they attended ten calls for nuisance behaviour, four for violence, four sexual offences and one firearms offence.

A senior nurse who works for the Brighton and Sussex trust told The Argus last year of a frightening incident when she was assaulted.

The nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I was the sister in charge of the shift when I came across a large and threatening-looking man having an argument with one of my staff.

"I felt it was my responsibility to try to alleviate the problem. I went up to introduce myself and tried to lead him round the corner and take him into a room so we could talk about it.

"The next thing I could see was a huge fist coming towards me and I thought I was really going to be badly hurt. He was well over 6ft 5in and I'm 5ft 3in.

"At the last minute he opened his fist and pushed hard against my neck. The force of it pushed me across the corridor and on to a desk."

Police were called to Worthing General 28 times for nuisance behaviour, seven times for violence, four times for sexual offences and once for a firearms offence.

Mark Harmsworth, 42, has worked as the nurse in charge of Worthing General A&E for the last 15 years.

He said: "In the last five years we've had three nurses assaulted, nothing major but arms twisted and stomachs punched. I've been assaulted twice in my time. I was punched in the face and also had my arm twisted."

He said verbal abuse where patients or visitors shouted and swore at staff repeatedly was commonplace.

Frustration over funds
Experiences of staff at Worthing General Hospital are typical of the problems faced by all Accident & Emergency staff every day.

The hospital is waiting for a new £22,500 security system to be installed which will increase the number of cameras from 23 to 32.

But workers are annoyed that money which could have funded another member of staff or life-saving equipment has been sidelined to deal with violent members of the public.

General manager of surgery Alison Black said: "That money could have paid for another nurse.

"It makes me really sad that we have to spend valuable time and money dealing with these sorts of incidents when there are sick people waiting for our attention."

Security guards are offered made-to-measure stab vests to protect them from knives and hypodermic needles and there are currently three knives confiscated from the public held at the hospital's security department.

Security guard Andy Hall, 28, said: "I spent a few years working in London clubs and this is definitely worse."

Mark Harmsworth, 42, has worked as the nurse in charge of A&E for the last 15 years and has been assaulted twice.

He was punched in the face on one occasion and had his arm severely twisted in another. He said three nurses had been assaulted in the last five years in similar ways.

He said: "Every night there are drunk and aggressive people here and often they couldn't care less if someone asks them to leave.

"Sometimes people come in with stab wounds and they and their friends still have knives on them.

"I am used to it and we know how to deal with situations before they get out of hand but it does get frightening sometimes."

He said police were called up to six times a week but usually before violence escalated.