Vertical Markets

Body worn video trial

by Mark Rowe

Some security staff at a central London hospital trust are being given body cameras for a six month trial.

The Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust in SE1 launched its Keep our staff safe campaign, backed by the Metropolitan Police, to combat violent and abusive behaviour by patients and visitors and increase staff awareness of the support available.

From April to September 2016 the trust recorded 850 incidents compared to 620 in the same period last year – a rise of 27 per cent. In the six months from April to September 2016, some 75 arrests were made – up from 30 in the same half year of 2015. Some 26 patients have been excluded from the Trust which means they will only be provided with emergency treatment – compared with seven in the same half of last year. And 130 behaviour contracts have been issued – these explain why that person’s behaviour was unacceptable and that any repeat will mean they are excluded from the Trust. Again, that’s a rise from 70 last year.

Dame Eileen Sills, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “I absolutely understand that coming to hospital can be a very stressful experience and we want to ensure all our patients receive the right care delivered safely, with kindness. But at times our staff and patients have felt threatened and intimidated by a small number of patients and visitors and we want to send a clear message to people that our staff are here for them. Please let them do their jobs safely.

“We will also be training our staff to identify patients at risk of developing challenging behaviour for clinical reasons so that the appropriate support and interventions can be given to prevent them from harming themselves or others. Any unprovoked violence and aggression towards staff is unacceptable. If people do abuse our staff we will take robust action and pursue them through the courts if necessary.”

Met Police Supt Roy Smith said: “We take assaults on NHS staff very seriously. The introduction of body cameras will help prevent them occurring in the first place because they act as an excellent deterrent and provide really good evidence for us to bring offenders to justice. I would hope if the pilot here is successful it is something that other NHS Trusts would look to roll out across London.”

Guy’s and St Thomas’ will now issue body cameras to some of its security staff as part of a six month trial. The trust points out that footage from the cameras can be used in court as evidence.

Jayne King, Head of Security at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “We have taken this step to assure our staff of their safety and to send the message to people who are violent or abusive on Trust premises that these recordings will be used to bring them to justice.”

The campaign includes:

posters in hospitals and community sites using anonymised real stories of staff who have been attacked or abused
an updated policy on managing challenging behaviour by patients and visitors, and a new training film for staff
new training courses in conflict resolution
working with the charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust on training for staff based in the community, such as health visitors.

Related News

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing