HARLOW resident David Foreman has written to local MP Robert Halfon regarding assaults on hospital workers.

This letter is a general discussion of a public affair.

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Dear Mr Halfon,

I hope that you may remember me lobbying you on October 25, 2019 in the Citizens Advice Bureau regarding assaults on emergency service workers.

Also, you may remember that my main complaint was judges and magistrates issuing lenient sentences.

Yesterday (3 Feb), YourHarlow published a news item concerning an alleged assault by a Harlow resident against a nurse and two porters at Princess Alexandra Hospital.

This is far from an isolated incident and my research conducted in 2019 showed a year on year increase in assaults on NHS staff from 2010/11 to 2015/16. In fact, over that time frame assaults against NHS staff in England increased by 18 percent to 70,555 assaults. 

Your government knows the scale of the problem as witnessed by the fact that in February 2019 the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, wrote to all NHS staff in which he stated: “The 2019 NHS Staff Survey showed 15% of NHS staff experienced physical violence from members of the public and patients in the past year – this rises to 34% among ambulance trust staff.” 

Clearly something must be done to reduce the numbers. Well, it would have helped that NHS Protect, part of the NHS Business Services Authority, had not been closed in 2017 and their staff transferred to fraud prevention duties. NHS Protect collected centrally data on assaults and managed prosecutions in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service. This explains why my figures abruptly end in 2016.

Unison, the health service union, pointed out in April 2017 the repercussions of closing NHS Protect when their head of health Christina McAnea said: “Stopping fraud is important, but it sends the wrong message to employees that the NHS values its buildings more than staff safety.”It’s going to be harder to gauge the scale of assaults or to prevent them happening in the first place. The NHS must fill this gap as a matter of urgency to show employees’ it takes their safety seriously.”

Matt Hancock’s letter to NHS employees acknowledged in part the problem when he said: “The NHS has joined forces with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to approve a joint agreement on offences against emergency workers. This will ensure that those who act violently and with criminal intent towards NHS staff are swiftly brought to justice.”

Also, Mr Hancock recognised the role of mental health played in violent assaults, as he said: “The agreement of course recognises these acts are sometimes committed by those in crisis or with neurological conditions. These cases will be handled appropriately.” 

However, while Matt Hancock’s plan is welcome there must be a central guiding hand and the data to back it up, along with sentencing that reflects the public’s deep concern and which provides some deterrent. 

How I would like you to deal with this is contained in the following 9 point plan:

1. Reinstate NHS Protect;

2. All physical assaults must be reported to police;

3. The Home Office to collate and publish figures of assault against all emergency service workers, including prison staff;

4. Reporting of assaults and harassment stats to be made mandatory on all emergency services and covering all staff. It is noted that all police forces in England and Wales did so from 2017/18;

5. Create a central team of experienced prosecutors at the Crown Prosecution Service to fast-track cases of assaulting emergency service workers, including the charge of common assault;

6. Subject to CPS evidentiary standards, cases should be brought to Magistrates courts within 3 months and Crown courts within 6 months. This will improve staff morale;

7. A new unit of detectives at the National Crime Agency to monitor trends and oversee investigation of serious assaults on emergency service workers;

8. The National Police College should devise a specific training module for detectives to enable consistently high standards of investigation by all police forces;

9. Amend current imprisonment and licensing arrangements for sentences of two years or less by ensuring – i) All convictions for assaulting Emergency Services workers to carry custodial sentences. For less serious assaults, such as common assault, the idea of sentencing to one or more weekends in jail should be implemented (A weekend being 6pm on a Friday to 6am on a Monday);ii) The current imprisonment term should be increased to 50 percent of sentence;iii) The licensing term should be increased to the remaining 50 percent of sentence.

Four Notes for explanation:1. YourHarlow news 3 Feb 2021: https://www.yourharlow.com/2021/02/03/harlow-resident-charged-with-assaulting-nurse-and-two-porters-at-princess-alexandra-hospital/

2. Matt Hancock letter to NHS staff February 18, 2020:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/violence-against-nhs-staff-letter-to-the-workforce/violence-against-nhs-staff-letter-to-the-workforce

3. Unison statement on NHS Protect closure April 12, 2017:https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2017/04/statement-on-the-closure-of-nhs-protect/

4. Attached PDF file is research carried out in October 2019.