Police helping Guy’s and St Thomas’ to tackle violence

Guy’s and St Thomas’ have joined forces with the Metropolitan Police to encourage more staff to report violent and abusive behaviour by patients and visitors.

As part of Operation Cavell, the move follows findings that there had been 219 physical assaults on nurses and other frontline staff at the trust from April to September 2018. The agreement also marks the next phase of the Keep our Staff Safe campaign which has seen Guy’s and St Thomas’ roll out body worn cameras for security staff earlier in 2018 after successfully trialling them throughout 2017.

Stats have shown that the number of physical assaults has decreased from 274 in the same period in 2017 to 219, largely attributed to the increased use of body worn security cameras and the support and guidance given to staff about de-escalating situations.

Dame Eileen Sills, chief nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “We want staff to feel safe and supported when they come to work. Whilst I absolutely understand that coming to hospital can be a very stressful experience any unprovoked violence and aggression towards staff is unacceptable. We have made a commitment with Lambeth and Southwark police to work together to tackle violence and antisocial behaviour towards our staff and make sure any offenders are pursued through the courts if necessary.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Messinger is in charge of Lambeth and Southwark police and signed the pact for the Met, said: “We do not tolerate violence against our own officers and staff – when they are threatened or assaulted, we are robust in pursuing the offenders and bringing them to justice. We are committed to providing the same protection under the law to our colleagues across healthcare services. When NHS staff report an incident, we will put the victim first and take positive action.”

Jayne King, head of Security at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “Being attacked should never just be part of the job for our staff. Whilst the number of incidents is still far too high I’m pleased to see the body cameras worn by the security team are acting as a deterrent and helping us to issue more sanctions to offenders.”