Security device for lone NHS workers launched
Personal security devices are to be made available as part of a strategy to protect NHS lone workers from verbal and physical abuse, John Reid, Secretary of State for Health, announced this week.
The NHS Security Management
Service also launched new guidance (PDF 1MB)
called “Not
alone: a guide for the better protection of lone workers in the NHS”.
It will be up to individual trusts to purchase the device, which will
cost between £110 and £170 plus £10 a month for the
monitoring service. Alternatively it can be rented from £20 per
month. Funding for community pharmacists is currently being considered.
The device, called Identicom, looks like an ID card holder but is equipped
with mobile telephone technology that, when activated, opens a one-way
voice channel to a 24-hour call centre.
The device can be activated covertly by the user using a concealed button
or automatically if it is ripped from its attachment.
The incident is then overheard by staff at the call centre and is recorded
on a tamper-proof DVD. This recording can later be submitted as evidence
in the event of prosecution. Staff at the call centre monitor the situation
and take appropriate action according to a pre-arranged alarm protocol.
The technology used also allows the location of the device to be determined;
as a safeguard users can use an amber alert button to pre-record information
about their whereabouts.
The device was piloted on 100 workers in 22 NHS organsisations in England
over 12 months. Results show that 85 per cent of respondents found the
device very easy or easy to use and 68 per cent said that they had an
improved feeling of security. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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