One member of staff is the victim of violence or aggression at the Vale of Leven Hospital every week.
New figures branded “shameful” by one campaigner show that 54 incidents were recorded in the 12 months between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, with a trade union official warning that the number of staff facing attacks is likely to be significantly higher in reality.
The data, published following a Freedom of Information request to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) by the Lennox Herald, revealed 47 incidents where a patient assaulted a staff member, four threats of physical violence made towards staff and three instances of verbal abuse.
Campaigners from Hospitalwatch have said they will raise the worrying figures with NHSGGC chiefs and push for more to be done to protect staff from violence and threats.
MSP Jackie Baillie has labelled the statistics “appalling” while the area’s top cop Ryan McMurdo said assaults on NHS staff were “completely unacceptable”.
Jim Moohan of the Hospitalwatch campaign group warned that assaults will prevent people from getting the care they need.
He said: “It’s absolutely shameful and totally unacceptable that individuals who go to receive care at a hospital then turn to aggression.
“Those individuals and their families and friends will visit that hospital one day for care and treatment.
“They should reflect on what they have done and the harm it causes both physically and mentally to staff.
“Staff are under enough pressure to look after patients.
“This creates a situation where there is an increase in staff absences because of these individuals.
“These violent individuals are never refused medical treatment.
“We fought hard to have 24/7 care on offer at the Vale of Leven Hospital.
“For that to be undermined by these actions is disgraceful.”
Unison Scotland’s head of health Matt McLaughlin said: “Physical or verbal violence of NHS staff is simply unacceptable.
“And these statistics do not tell us the full extent of the problem.
“NHS workers are facing the brunt of violence in the workplace as short staffing, patient frustration and lack of security resources takes its toll.
“A recent Unison survey of nursing members showed that nurses are continually working in understaffed teams and the majority of nurses (84 percent) have lost confidence in the official system to report critical incidence because either its takes too long to fill out the forms or when NHS staff do, nothing happens. So undoubtedly the figures will be worse than being reported.
“Thank you to Lennox Herald for highlighting this important issue.”
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie, who is also Labour’s spokesperson for health, said: “It is absolutely appalling to hear that staff members at the Vale of Leven have been subjected to attacks at work.
“Whether physical or verbal, such assaults on hard-working NHS staff are never acceptable.
“The NHS has been experiencing a particularly turbulent time since the Covid pandemic but staff have battled on regardless, through the threat posed by the virus and the subsequent instability of the NHS, to provide the people of Dumbarton, Alexandria, Helensburgh and beyond with vital services.
Veteran campaigner Moohan meanwhile has pledged to raise the figures with health chiefs and push for more action to cut down on the violence facing staff.
He added: “At our next meeting with senior management I will ensure this is placed on the agenda.
“I want us, as a community group, and senior management to come up with some ideas for how we can stamp this out.
“My message to the staff is, as always, the community thanks you for everything you do. Please don’t lose heart.
“We will continually push the point that abuse and aggression has to stop. We can never stop it completely, but I hope that we can minimise it.
“Without these staff we don’t have a hospital.”
Chief Inspector Ryan McMurdo, local area commander for Argyll and West Dunbartonshire, said: “Nobody should be attacked in the course of their employment and it is completely unacceptable any time health workers are subject to this kind of violence.
“We thoroughly investigate all incidents reported to us and regularly work with our partners in the NHS to provide them with appropriate support.”
An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesman said: “NHSGGC has a strict policy towards violence against our staff who are entitled to work free of threats, assaults and intimidation, and we take any act of physical or verbal abuse very seriously. We fully support staff to report any incidents and encourage them in their pursuit of taking the perpetrators of violence against them through the justice system and offer extensive support to any member of staff who has been assaulted.”
