Home   News   Article

Politicians make protection call for under attack NHS Highland staff


By Ian Duncan

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

Highland politicians condemn figures revealing around three attacks a day on NHS Highland staff in the Inverness area

NHS Highland and the Scottish Ambulance Service say there were 6750 verbal and physical assaults against staff in the Inverness area between 2014 and September last year

The statistics were met with anger and disgust by union leaders and NHS bosses when they were revealed by the Inverness Courier last month.

See the earlier story here

Now politicians have also come out in support of paramedics and NHS staff, saying no-one should have to be subjected to violence in the workplace.

Inverness MP Drew Hendry said: “While some of these incidents may relate to disorientated or frightened patients, it is vital that all that can be done to protect NHS workers is being done.

“I am glad to hear that the NHS has been pro-actively urging staff to report any incidents of violence and I would echo these calls. I hope NHS Highland management will also continue to work with unions to find measures to increase safety for frontline staff.”

David Stewart, regional MSP and Scottish Labour’s shadow public health minister, said: “None of our hard-working, frontline health service staff should suffer attacks and verbal abuse and action must be taken to record and follow up on each incident.

“However, reducing violent crime in the health sector is complicated.

“While tightening security and offering staff training does help, there are social factors behind most attacks which should be investigated.”

Fellow MSP Edward Mountain said: “A zero tolerance approach must be taken and that must mean those found guilty of attacking healthcare staff receive the full force of the law.

“We must look after our hard-working healthcare professionals, who do so much to look after us.”

Figures show there were 447 such incidents in 2014, 1468 in 2015, 1064 in 2016, 1331 in 2017, 1486 in 2018 and 954 to September 1, 2019. Of the 6750 incidents, 52 involved paramedics in the NHS Highland area and the rest involved other staff, including doctors and nurses.

NHS Highland encourages employees to report every incident and has a zero-tolerance approach to deliberate violence and aggression towards staff.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More