Conflict resolution training offered to pharmacy staff
Ways of avoiding conflict will be covered by new training |
Community pharmacists and their staff are among frontline NHS workers who are in line for conflict resolution training to be organised by the NHS Security Management Service (SMS).
Speaking at a briefing held at the end of last year, Jim Gee, chief executive
of the NHS SMS, said that as many as 730,000 frontline staff would be
eligible for the one-day training course. The course will cover ways
of recognising and resolving conflicts and breakdowns in communication
that might occur during dealings with the public. Spotting warning signs
and the use of verbal and non-verbal communication will be covered, but
the course will not extend to self-defence.
Training will be offered by primary care and hospital trusts, external
trainers or the SMS itself. The first courses should start in April.
The training forms part of a new security strategy for the NHS in England,
designed to protect assets and property, as well as those who work in
or use the NHS. Key parts of the strategy include the nomination of trust
directors with responsibility for security and the appointment of local
security managers at each trust. A new reporting system for incidents
of physical assault on staff will be set up, together with common definitions
that should allow a better chance of prosecution. Security managers will
have a national manual to work from and the support of a legal protection
unit to work with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.
In addition, trials of a remote alarm device are to be undertaken. This
will be of similar size to an identity badge but will incorporate an
alarm button using mobile telephone technology. The location at the time
of activation will be recorded as evidence.
Bill Darling, chairman of the SMS and a past-president of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society, said: “We believe that the strategy will result in resources,
lost due to violence, theft or damage, being freed for the continuing
improvement of frontline services while maintaining an environment where
patients and staff feel safe and secure.” |
