Hospital staff to wear stab-proof vests as violent patients on the increase

The protection is available to staff at hospitals in Cheshire in response to an unprecedented numbers of assualts against doctors and nurses.

Last year across the UK, there were 75,000 attacks on NHS staff - one every seven minutes.

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• Undercover police officers to patrol A&E

• Attack on NHS staff every 7 minutes

It is estimated that the violence costs the NHS around £100,000 a year in security, time off for affected staff, and legal costs.

Nursing leaders say violence against staff is 'endemic' in the NHS, making them dangerous and 'traumatic' places to work.

Managers at North Cheshire NHS trust, which covers Halton and Warrington hospitals, decided to act after 73 assaults occured at the hospitals in 2005/06.

A spokesman said: "Security staff have been issued with stab-proof vests. Helmets and shields are available."

Security staff are called in by doctors and nurses when situations get out of hand.

Chris Todd, the trust's security management specialist, said: "Our main priority is safeguarding the well-being off out staff and patients.

"We meet with our local police and community support officers to discuss how we can address these issues at a local level.

"The trust will not tolerate abusive physical or verbal behaviour from patients or relatives towards any of our staff.

"We keep a thorough record of all incidents and will be tracking the progress of any of these matters through the criminal justice system."

All staff attend conflict resolution training sessions, to help them recognise and defuse potentially violent situations.

The number of incidents in 2006/07 is expected to be lower than the previous year.

Hospitals across the country are taking their own measures to deal with violence on NHS wards.

In Nottingham, plain-clothed police officers have been brought in to patrol wards and step in at the first sign of trouble.

Undercover officers began patrolling the accident and emergency department at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham at the weekend.

Inspector Andy Baguley of Nottinghamshire Police said violence in hospitals is a crime and should not be tolerated.

He said: "Doctors, nurses and other staff shouldn't have to put up with rowdy and abusive behaviour."

Last week the BBC's Panorama programme revealed that the vast majority of assaults never reached the courts.

Of 58,700 incidents in England in the year 2005/06, only 850 ended with a prosecution.

A survey by the Royal College of Nursing found that 80 per cent of accident and emergency nurses had suffered harrassment or assault over the past year, and a quarter claimed they had been physically assaulted.

The violence problem in England prompted the Department of Health last June to unveil a crackdown on violence and verbal abuse in England's hospitals.

They promised that anyone being threatening or abusive to NHS staff would be slapped with a £1,000 fine and bosses would have the power to remove them from the premisis.

Patients and those needing treatment would be treated but could still later face fines or be subject to criminal action.

Last year St James Hospital in Leeds introduced police onto its wards to protect staff from physical and verbal abuse.