Hospital trusts and police launch Operation Cavell against attacks on staff

Hospital staff and police have launched a crackdown on violence against NHS workers, with an A&E matron's young daughter as the face of the campaign.

A poster shows the little girl beside the words: "My daddy looks after sick people. Please don't hurt him."

"Not someone's punch bag"

Her father, Michael Brennan, is the matron of the A&E department at the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Smethwick, which serves west Birmingham. He has said a patient stabbed him in the leg with a syringe.

"People come into nursing to care for people. They don't come into nursing to be someone's punch bag," he said. "Every single day and night, we'll hear of aggression towards staff, violence towards staff, staff being assaulted."

"Over the last six months, we've seen knives pulled on staff and we've had staff cornered and assaulted. I don't think the general public are aware of how much of an issue it is."

Operation Cavell

The new crackdown, called Operation Cavell, has been launched by health leaders and the police. It encourages staff to report every assault or incident of abuse, so that officers can respond and investigate.

Inspector Sarah Long said: "People don't come to work for the NHS to face violence and aggression, they come here because they have a vocation to help people."

"Our message to NHS colleagues is simple: if you are assaulted or abused at work, then please report it. We will respond, investigate where appropriate and identify how to help prevent further incidents."

Diane Wake, group chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust and the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: "For too long our frontline staff have put up with abuse from a small number of those who need NHS help."

"Our colleagues come to work every day to care for people, often when those people are at their most frightened, distressed or vulnerable. They deserve to be able to do that without fear of being threatened, abused or assaulted. Operation Cavell sends a very clear message. Violence and abuse are not simply part of the job."

A national problem

Violence against NHS staff has been a growing concern across the country. In the NHS staff survey, a significant minority of frontline workers report having been physically assaulted by patients, relatives or members of the public in the previous year, and many more report verbal abuse.

Assaulting an emergency worker, including NHS staff, is a specific offence that carries a maximum of two years in prison, and the courts must treat it as an aggravating factor when sentencing other offences.

Why it matters

Hospital leaders say abuse drives experienced staff out of the profession at a time when the NHS is struggling to recruit and keep nurses and doctors. Emergency departments, which see people who may be in pain, frightened, drunk or unwell, are where the problem is often worst.

Anyone who sees staff being threatened or attacked in a hospital should alert security or call 999.