NHS Scotland staff suffer 35,000 workplace injuries

Posted: March 9, 2015

Posted in: Criminal Injury and Assault Workplace Injuries 

Recently released figures have revealed that NHS staff members in Scotland have suffered 35,000 injuries at work over the past three years. The figures were released by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, showing that staff had suffered injuries ranging from needle wounds to serious falls, with the figures also covering stress-related injuries. The Scottish Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson Jim Hume described the violence against staff in the NHS as “worrying”.

Injuries between 2011 and 2013 saw the highest figure in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde at 9,583 injuries, followed by NHS Borders at 7,114. The areas with the lowest staff injuries were NHS Western Isles at 57 staff injuries and NHS Orkney at 11 staff injuries.

“supporting criminal proceedings”

Mr Hume said that even though the NHS in Scotland operates strict accident reporting and prevention systems, accidents are still occurring – putting NHS staff at risk of injury.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said, however, that staff working in the country’s health service actually felt increasingly positive about their overall working experience. An annual survey in 2014 saw that staff responded more positively to 26 out of the 29 key questions compared to last year. It found that 90% of staff were willing to “go that extra mile” at work, and 61% would recommend their workplace as a good place to work. She continued:

“Unfortunately, evidence shows that incidents of violent and aggressive abuse are a serious factor for healthcare workers and this is clearly unacceptable … We actively encourage NHS Scotland organisations to commit to supporting criminal proceedings against anyone who assaults a staff member.”

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