The NHS Security Management Service has today (16th November) published the latest official figures on violence against members of staff.  The number of reported assaults per 1,000 staff at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust has gone down from 29 in 2007/08 to 17.3 in 2008/09.

Amongst the 40 largest acute trusts in the country (those with more than 6,000 members of staff) Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust was ranked 23rd in terms of number of reported assaults.  The Trust has also recorded the 8th highest number of declared sanctions against individuals who commit acts of violence or behave aggressively. 

This is a reflection of the success of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust’s Zero Tolerance policy towards violence against its members of staff.

Viv Gale, Security Advisor for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust said:  “The safety and welfare of our staff is of paramount importance to us and we continually reiterate to our staff that suffering from violence and aggression is not part of their job and will not be tolerated. 

“We continue to work hard with implementing our Zero Tolerance policy towards those who act in a violent or aggressive manner.  The high number of declared sanctions we have levied against offenders also shows that we continue to take legal action wherever we can.”