Physical and verbal abuse at hospitals becoming routine, say New Zealand doctors

Health workers warn of rising hospital violence and say it's only a matter of time before someone is killed. Photo / RNZ

By Jimmy Ellingham of RNZ

A leading advocate for junior doctors says she is dreading the day when a hospital worker is killed.

After a staff member was held up at gunpoint outside Palmerston North Hospital in April, RNZ has heard from many health workers who do not feel safe on the job.

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora says it is continuously improving security and taking on feedback about this, but unions representing hospital workers say problems persist.

The Resident Doctors’ Association national secretary, Dr Deborah Powell, said junior doctors, who were often on the frontlines at emergency departments, were reporting physical and verbal abuse at work becoming routine.

“The day we have a death is the day the unions dread. We’d all prefer we don’t have to face that day and we’ve kept our people safer than that.”

Nurses Organisation delegates have called for beefed-up powers for hospital security officers, but Powell said that could be problematic.

She raised the possibility of a police presence in emergency departments or fast responses to calls from there.

The security boost in some emergency departments was helping, but there were bigger problems behind people’s growing frustrations, such as the hospitals themselves.

“If you’ve got a cramped, crowded ED, if you don’t have rooms to put whānau in who are having a rough time with whatever’s happening to their family member, or if you’ve got people who have mental distress and we don’t have a quiet place where we can talk with them, it escalates the level of agitation and likelihood of assaults.”

Respect towards health workers going about their business also needed to return, she said.

“It’s not their fault we’re in the constrained environment we’re in.”

Three incidents in one night

In April a health worker in Palmerston North was held up at gunpoint after she left the hospital on a late shift. Police are still investigating.

On the same night, another staff member there was knocked unconscious.

RNZ has since learned of a third incident that night, where police were called when a person threatened staff in the emergency department.

Assaults on hospital workers have also been reported in Auckland and Christchurch this year.

The NZ Nurses Organisation’s Palmerston North delegate, David Goldstone, wanted to see security guards get more powers to intervene when trouble occurs.

They are currently left to calm a situation without force.

“It would make the staff feel safer. They’d have security guards with powers that could actually do something.

“Today you’ve got security guards standing around an abusive, aggressive person waiting for police, because they can’t do anything.”

Fellow Nurses Organisation delegate Jane Swift said hospital staff were left to deal with situations as best they could until enforcement arrived.

“We need police to respond quickly. We would like to see the security guards have more powers to take action accordingly, and we would like to see the police respond so that staff are not left in those vulnerable positions.”

Goldstone said police had sometimes taken up to two hours to arrive when called.

“If you’ve got somebody going off for two hours that’s a long time in a ward, making the other patients vulnerable.”

Constrained by law

Police Superintendent Kelly Ryan, the director for emergency communications and dispatch, said there were standard procedures for emergency call management anywhere.

“Outside of emergency situations, police [have] a threshold for what work requires a police response and what doesn’t.

“This ensures police [are] only involved where it’s appropriate, due to an offence, violence or immediate risk to life or safety, and other agencies are clear on their roles and responsibilities. It also means police have more time to do the work that only police can, and which the community expects them to do.”

Health NZ’s group director of operations for the MidCentral District, Sarah Fenwick, said increased security remained in place at Palmerston North Hospital, as did arrangements allowing afternoon and night staff to get to their cars safely.

“We are unable to give more powers to our security guards, who are required to operate within the confines of the law. However, we are doing our best to make sure our staff and patients feel safe and that our security team are supported in this.”

Improving security was a continuous process.

“We are constantly reviewing and checking feedback on the solutions we have put in place and are committed to providing a safe environment for our staff and our community.”

Health NZ said a government funding boost had allowed it to provide more than 40 full-time-equivalent security guards across its biggest hospitals and “surge capacity” at the likes of Palmerston North Hospital when there was high need.

– RNZ