London A&E units 'like war zones' with gang fights and 20,000 attacks a year

More than 20,000 attacks occur each year, hundreds involving knives or other weapons and spilling over into casualty wards.

Two A&E departments became battle zones as gangs with knives fought each other ¡ª one outburst lasting six hours as police struggled to regain control.

The figures, obtained under freedom of information laws, reveal:

¡ö There is an average of one attack in the capital¡¯s NHS units every 25 minutes and murders and rapes occur on hospital grounds.

¡ö Staff are threatened with knives and are punched, kicked and spat at.

¡ö More than 4,000 attacks a year in which someone is injured.

¡ö A fraction of attacks are reported to police.

In May, police had to seal off Ealing Hospital¡¯s A&E department for six hours after a gang knife fight erupted.

Last year, gangs with knives clashed in supposedly secure treatment areas at King¡¯s College Hospital A&E unit until 20 officers arrived.

London¡¯s 38 acute and foundation trusts and three mental health trusts, which run NHS hospitals and specialist care centres, were asked to reveal the number of violent attacks ¡°on hospital grounds¡±.

The 25 trusts that responded reported 13,360 in 2006 and 12,470 in 2007 ¡ª an average of 12,915 a year.

Extrapolated across all 41 trusts, the total would be 21,181 a year. The true total is likely to be higher still because not all trusts could provide figures for 2007.

Karen Jennings, of the union Unison, demanded a zero-tolerance approach to violence in hospitals.

She added: ¡°There is no doubt the binge-drinking
culture has led to an increase in the number of attacks on staff. Some A&Es are like war zones on an average Friday and Saturday night.

"We would like to see a new law which would make
assaulting an NHS worker a separate offence attracting tougher penalties.¡±

Michael Summers, vice-chairman of the Patients Association, said: ¡°In the London area, we are seeing knife-wielding teenagers following stab victims to A&E units, which are just not equipped
to deal with that level of violence.

Some 227 incidents involved weapons in 2006 and 197 in 2007. Only 521 of the attacks were reported to the police in 2006, and 514 in 2007.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
had the highest number of attacks ¡ª 5,288 over the two years.

Other trusts with a high number of attacks include Central and North West London Mental
Health (3,697), East London (2,925) and Guy¡¯s and St Thomas¡¯ (2,469).

A Department of Health spokesman said: ¡°Any violence in hospitals is unacceptable. The NHS Security Management Service works with employers to prevent violence.¡±