Personal safety and the abuse of staff in a Scottish NHS Trust

An employer's 'duty of care' is enshrined in statute and common law. This responsibility extends to identifying areas of risk to employee's safety and emotional well being.

To identify the views of NHS staff on their safety and exposure to assault and other forms of abuse.

A survey by questionnaire and semi-structured interview of the staff of an NHS Trust.

A large Scottish NHS Trust.

All 5365 staff of the Trust.

Two thousand two hundred and ninety four (43%) employees contributed to this survey. With regard to exposure to hazardous substances and serious infection, most staff were satisfied with safety standards and guidelines. Over a 12 month period 23% of the workforce had been assaulted, mainly by patients and 63% had experienced verbal abuse, again, mainly from patients. There were differences among occupational groups but overall 16% had been bullied; 18% had suffered discrimination; 22% had experienced harassment, and 13% had been victimized. Only 42% of individuals reported their most distressing incidents; 56% of them regarded the outcome of their reports as satisfactory.

Staff are generally satisfied with the steps taken to safeguard them against hazardous substances and serious infection. Assault by and abuse from patients is a considerable risk, especially for trained nurses. In terms of bullying, harassment, discrimination and victimization, the abuse of power by colleagues is also a distressing and under-reported phenomenon which needs to be addressed by regular audit and the creation of a climate in which employees feel secure enough to report such abuse and to have faith in the mechanisms set up to deal with such complaints.