Cornwall hospital staff attacked hundreds of times during Covid pandemic

Hundreds of physical assaults have been recorded against staff at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust during the pandemic.

Nearly 450 assaults were recorded in 2020/21 but only 20 of those incidents led to police being called - and only six resulted in arrests.

The total number of assaults was 448, which is up 33% on the previous year.

The figures - based on a Freedom of Information response from the Trust - also showed staff suffered 169 injuries last year. 

One incident involved a man who arrived at the emergency department two days in a row and was aggressive and abusive towards staff on both occasions.

On the second time, he arrived with police and was found to have a knife.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Through the NHS Violence Reduction Programme, we’re taking action to protect staff and the NHS is working closely with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring offenders to justice.

“The Government is currently legislating to double the maximum prison sentence for assault on NHS staff, and other emergency workers, to two years.”

A spokesperson for Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust said it has a zero-tolerance approach to deliberate acts of violence or aggression towards its staff.

They said: "We encourage our staff to report all incidents of violence and aggression and we know these are often related to the medical condition of individuals.

"Our staff are trained in the care and support of people with dementia and other mental illness, for whom being in hospital can be a bewildering experience.”

Figures based on Freedom of Information responses from hospital trusts across England showed there were 25,424 physical assaults on staff in 2020/21.

That was down from 27,601 in 2019/20, which was the highest number recorded in a decade.

Even with the most recent fall, numbers are the second highest on record - having increased from 13,322 in 2010/11.