27 May 2005
Unison has called on Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt to take urgent steps to combat violence against staff, patients and visitors in mental health inpatient units.
The call came after the Healthcare Commission revealed that 80% of nurses in mental health and learning disability inpatient facilities had experienced violence.
More than a third of nurses said alarm systems were inadequate. One in three service users, 18% of visitors and 41% of all clinical staff had been attacked or subjected to threatening behaviour.
The commission said it would use the findings to push for improvements. Substance abuse was the most common trigger for violent episodes, while staffing issues were the second most frequent cause. Units had to rely on temporary staff as experienced workers took more prestigious, community-based jobs.
The level of staffing problems was confirmed by a Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health survey this week, which revealed that, on an average day, a 16-bed ward would be two nurses or health care assistants short and would have instead to use four temporary staff.
Almost half of wards were without a lead consultant psychiatrist. A quarter had lost staff to community teams in the year before the survey.
Unison head of health Karen Jennings said years of under-investment had created a dangerous environment for patients and staff.
'It is sad to say that the figures on violence come as no surprise to us and it is a problem we have been highlighting for some time. The mental health and learning disability services are the "Cinderella" of the health service, under-resourced and overlooked,' she said.
'Unison calls on Hewitt to respond urgently to the continuing rise in violence and to take urgent measures before someone else is hurt or abused.'
Healthcare Commission chief executive Anna Walker said: 'These figures are deeply worrying. No one is saying these issues are easy to deal with. But we must do more to protect the people who use and work in our mental health services.'
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