The Blast Alliance

In the year 2008/09 in England the number of assault cases recorded against the staff of National Health Services was 54,758. In the previous year the number of cases was 1,235 more. Out of all these cases of physical assault there were 992 criminal sanctions in 2007/08 and 941 in the year before.

The above figures are eye-openers to the risk that the health staff face while doing their work. Things should improve with the new revisions brought in the sixth edition of the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The NHS Security Management Service (SMS) has welcomed these changes because they think that it will have a positive impact on the condition of the NHS staff.

The NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) – a division of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) came into existence in 2003. The main purpose was to provide effective guidelines to and also to take care of policy decisions related to the management of security in NHS in England.

The Code of Crown Prosecutors contains guidelines that prosecutors are supposed to follow while taking decisions regarding the cases they handle. In the earlier editions, police officers, prison officers and nurses were cited as examples of people who serve the public, now, in the sixth edition, this category of public servants has been broadened to include people providing emergency services and also health and social welfare professionals.

The inclusion of the health workers will benefit the health staff because, according to Richard Hampton, Head of the NHS Security Management Service, it is an indication to prosecutors in both England and Wales to view assaults against NHS staff more seriously. He feels that this will lead to more conviction in cases related to the NHS staff.

Mr. Hampton has openly urged the professional bodies of NHS to take up all cases of assault against staff including ambulance workers, and to press for prosecution. The NHS staffs providing service in mental health and learning disability settings is the high risk group for all sorts of physical assault and both the employers and the new revisions in the Code should eventually prove to be an deterrent to the offenders.

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