Health
| TOP STORIES |  | | | | | | | FEATURES | | | | | | MAYOR NEWS | | | | TRAVEL | | | | COMPETITIONS | | |
|
|
|
BARNET: Hospital staff 'regularly abused'
 |
| Barnet Hospital: One in ten staff members have reported being abused |
Staff at Barnet Hospital are regularly physically and verbally abused at work, according to a report released last week.
One in ten workers at hospitals run by the Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust were assaulted by patients or their relatives last year, while a quarter were bullied, harassed or abused in other ways.
The findings were revealed in a report by the Healthcare Commission (HC), the government's health watchdog, based on a survey of staff in every NHS trust in the country.
The hospital is used by two thirds of Hertsmere patients.
Leigh Marsden works as a security guard for the trust, attending wards and departments when patients become violent.
He said: "A face-to-face with the aggressive patient can sometimes work wonders. The ward sisters are always involved and are great. We always liaise with the staff affected and take their views into account.
"I would not pretend that this works perfectly on all occasions but we are doing what we can. I am sure that the issues are under-reported but we are making inroads to reassure staff and deal with this."
The Healthcare Commission also released a second survey last week indicating staff job satisfaction at Watford General Hospital is on the up but is still poor.
Morale has risen during the past year, but is still below the England average.
The hospital is run by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and is used by one third of Hertsmere patients.
Between October and December last year, a random sample of 837 trust staff were asked for their views and experiences of working for the NHS.
It revealed that workers consider the support from their managers has increased and overall job satisfaction has risen.
The number of people who suffered work-related stress fell from 39 per cent in 2006 to 35 per cent in 2007, but staff still felt work pressure had risen.
A trust spokeswoman said: "The trust recognises there are a number of areas highlighted in the recent survey, which need further attention.
"Our aim is to continue to focus on supporting staff through the changes and ensuring they are aware of the guidance and support available to them."
11:43am Tuesday 15th April 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
