Harassment of hospital staff since 2019 (FOI)Harassment of hospital staff since 2019 (FOI)
Produced by the Freedom of Information officeAuthored by Government of Jersey and published on
02 August 2024.Prepared internally, no external costs.
Request
Please provide the following figures over the past five years to date, broken down by year:
A
The number of recorded incidents of verbal abuse, and harassment of hospital staff.
B
The number of recorded incidents of racism against hospital staff.
C
The number of recorded incidents of physical abuse, and assaults on staff.
D
The number of 'serious' incidents, and assaults on staff.
E
The number of times the States of Jersey Police have been called to incidents at the hospital.
Response
Annual figures for recorded incidents of abuse towards Health and Community Services (HCS) staff each calendar year, from 2020 to date, are detailed in the tables below. A breakdown has been provided to show the number of incidents of verbal abuse, racial abuse, and physical abuse recorded in mental health and social care (MH / SC) service areas and those recorded elsewhere across HCS. Figures include incidents across HCS facilities, and in community settings.
Data is derived from the incident reporting system. Incidents of abuse towards non-HCS Government of Jersey staff may be recorded in the system. Details of the staff group or designation of the staff member affected by these incidents was not a category available to report from the database prior to a system update in November 2022, though such information may be documented in the incident notes. It is not possible to exclude any such incidents for non-HCS staff from the annual figures prior to November 2022.
Figures for 2020 and 2021 must be considered in the context of reduced patient numbers, owing to pandemic restrictions and the necessity to limit elective (planned) surgery and outpatient activity.
A
Recorded incidents of verbal abuse, and harassment of hospital staff
| Year | MH / SC Service Areas | Other HCS Locations | Total Recorded Incidents |
| 2020 | 16 | 40 | 56 |
| 2021 | 19 | 62 | 81 |
| 2022 | 34 | 65 | 99 |
| 2023 | 53 | 64 | 117 |
| 2024 to date | 35 | 53 | 88 |
B
Recorded incidents of racism against hospital staff
| Year | MH / SC Service Areas | Other HCS Locations | Total Recorded Incidents |
| 2020 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 2021 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 2022 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| 2023 | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| 2024 to date | 5 | 12 | 17 |
C
Recorded incidents of physical abuse, and assaults on staff
| Year | MH / SC Service Areas | Other HCS Locations | Total Recorded Incidents |
| 2020 | 133
| 29 | 162 |
| 2021 | 95 | 75 | 170 |
| 2022 | 147 | 125 | 272 |
| 2023 | 222 | 88 | 310 |
| 2024 to date | 74 | 40 | 114 |
D
Incidents of abuse, aggression or violence towards staff are categorised to type of harm and level of harm reported, as detailed below. Through 2020 and 2021, ‘Physical Harm’ was the only category available to record against a report of abuse, aggression or violence towards staff. In 2022, ‘Physiological Harm’ and ‘Psychological Harm’ were introduced as categories to record against. Level of harm reported may be categorised as ‘No / Low’ harm, ‘Moderate’, or ‘Severe' for each type of harm recorded.
2020
| Incident Type | Type and Severity of Harm Reported |
| Verbal | All No Physical Harm |
Physical
| 5 x Moderate Physical Harm All others No / Low Physical Harm |
| Racial | All No Physical Harm
|
2021
| Incident Type | Type and Severity of Harm Reported |
| Verbal | All No Physical Harm
|
| Physical | 3 x Moderate Physical Harm All others No / Low Physical Harm |
| Racial | All No Physical Harm
|
2022
| Incident Type | Type and Severity of Harm Reported |
| Verbal | 2 x Moderate Physiological Harm
All others No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm |
| Physical | 1 x Moderate Physical Harm 1 x Moderate Physiological Harm All others No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm |
| Racial | 1 x Moderate Physiological Harm
All others No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm
|
2023
| Incident Type | Type and Severity of Harm Reported |
| Verbal | All No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm |
| Physical | 4 x Moderate Physical Harm 5 x Moderate Physiological Harm All others No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm |
| Racial | All No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm
|
2024 to date
| Incident Type | Type and Severity of Harm Reported |
| Verbal | All No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm |
| Physical | 1 x Moderate Physical Harm 1 x Severe Physiological Harm
All others No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm |
| Racial | All No / Low Physical Harm, No / Low Psychological Harm
|
E
Number of times police have been called to incidents at the hospital
| Year | Police Called |
| 2020 | 70 |
2021
| 65 |
| 2022 | 93 |
| 2023 | 51 |
| 2024 to date | 30
|
It is recognised that those working in health and social care settings may be exposed to incidents of violence and aggression more frequently than in other workplaces. HCS acknowledges it’s responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989 in providing a safe and secure working environment, as far as is reasonably practicable. HCS’ Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression at Work Policy, which aligns with the Department of Health ‘Positive and Safe’ initiative, aims to support the organisation to meet this responsibility. A range of training is provided, including Maybo training for employees in clinical and client-facing roles.
HCS employees are encouraged to report incidents and raise any concerns that they may have. User guides and training are available for the incident reporting system, and staff have access to a dedicated Freedom to Speak Up Guardian; concerns may be logged anonymously. The Chief Officer also maintains an ‘open-door’ policy to all HCS staff, should they wish to speak on any matter. These avenues and detail of workshops to attend, HCS Team Talks (open to all employees) and links to HCS Wellbeing services are regularly communicated through organisation-wide emails.
gov.je