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Monday, 29 August 2005 12:12 | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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New figures released by the department of Health have revealed a 15-fold increase in prosecutions of people who physically assault NHS staff.
Steps taken by the NHS Security Management Service to tackle the problem have been reflected in the statistics, with 759 prosecutions in 2004-5 compared to just 52 in 2002-3.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt said : "Although I am pleased with this increase, it also illustrates the extent of the problem.
"Working with the NHS Security Management Service (SMS), I am determined to reduce the number of violent incidents occurring in the NHS.
"NHS staff should not have to tolerate abuse."
Jim Gee, SMS chief executive, added: "The vast majority of the public find violence against NHS staff to be completely unacceptable.
"The small but anti-social minority who carry out such attacks should understand that we shall take the toughest possible action against them."
The SMS has installed a raft of new measures to tackle the problem, including establishing a Legal Protection Unit to pursue prosecutions, and a team of Local Security Management Specialists to help with police investigations.
In June this year a man was sentenced to life in prison after a nurse suffered minor lacerations in a stabbing at York Hospital in 2004.
Tom Sandford, Director of the Royal College of Nursing in England, said: "There has historically been a very small number of prosecutions and these [new] figures come from a very low starting base."
"We should be doing everything we can to recruit and retain nurses - nurses who feel secure and valued can then get on with the job of caring for patients without worrying about being attacked.
"There is still a long way to go and much more that can be done.
"The political will is there from the government and politicians across all parties to really tackle this problem, and we will be pressuring the government to maintain this momentum."
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