Protecting emergency workers in the NHS

Scotland took the lead on protecting emergency workers in the UK when it passed the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act in 2005, making it a criminal offence to assault or impede certain classes of emergency workers.

Similar protection for emergency workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland did not follow until the Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006. Scotland has now taken matters a step further by amending which personnel are protected under the act.

The original legislation in Scotland made it an offence to assault or impede the police, fire fighters and ambulance personnel. It also set out a secondary offence affording protection to a wider class of public sector workers responding to emergency circumstances. This included prison officers, coastguards, lifeboat crew, registered medical practitioners, registered midwives and registered nurses.

Varying protection

The legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was less generous. It only applied to certain groups of public sector workers when responding to an emergency. Not only was the class of public sector workers more limited, so were the circumstances in which the act would protect them.

Scotland has now extended the legislation by bringing registered medical practitioners, registered midwives and registered nurses within section 1 of the act, making it an offence to assault or impede this group of workers regardless of whether or not they are responding to an emergency.

Contrast this to the position in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Here, a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or nurse will only be protected if responding to an emergency, which is fairly narrowly defined. A doctor assaulted or impeded while engaged in a routine clinic in Scotland is protected, but not in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Clear dangers

Recent surveys suggest that despite the ongoing issue of under-reporting, the number of assaults continues to rise. Last October, Unison reported that the number of attacks on Scotland's health and local government workers had risen by 2,000 in a year. This led Unison to call for the Emergency Workers Act to be extended beyond medical staff to cover social workers, housing staff and traffic wardens.

Scotland is clearly taking the safety of health workers seriously. Since the Emergency Workers Act was introduced, there have been more than 1,000 prosecutions and 600 convictions. But this is only the tip of the iceberg - over the same period, there were 1,344 physical assaults and 305 incidents of verbal assault in one area alone.

The extension of protection for those serving in the NHS is to be welcomed, but it is questionable whether the current legislation goes far enough. As highlighted above, there are discrepancies in the levels of protection given to NHS staff in different regions and doing different jobs. Why should a nurse, doctor or midwife have protection denied to other NHS staff such as healthcare assistants, physiotherapists, porters and receptionists? It is likely that all those dealing with patients are equally at risk.

Making progress

As long ago as June 1998, then health minister Alan Milburn announced a four-point action plan to tackle violence against NHS staff. One of the main concerns driving that initiative was the fact that one in seven of all reported incidents in the NHS involved physical assaults.

Ten years on, there is still much to be done, but things are moving in the right direction. Indeed, it is unlikely that Mr Milburn expected to eradicate the problem in a decade.

We need to maintain the current momentum and hope that Scotland can lead the UK forward to a position where, as a society, we do not accept any form of abuse or violence towards those who serve us. Those who breach this code should expect to be dealt with firmly by the courts. In the meantime, government needs to ensure that the present review of the NHS does not overlook protecting those who are central to delivery of patient care.

www.brownejacobson.com