The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7353 p699
11 June 2005

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Experts to tackle violence against NHS staff

Local security management specialists will be based at every NHS hospital trust and primary care trust by June 2006, the NHS Security Management Service announced this week. These specialists will work in partnership with the police to investigate assaults on staff and ensure appropriate action is taken.

Stephen Lutener, head of regulation at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, said: “The PSNC welcomes the attention being drawn by the NHS Security Management Service to the concerns about violence against NHS staff. The deterrence of violence, by effectively pursuing prosecution of those who commit violence towards people working within the NHS, is an important part of protecting the service given by community pharmacies and other health workers within the NHS.”

The NHS Security Management Service is currently running pilot projects in which community pharmacists report all incidents of violence or threats of violence to their PCT (PJ, 19 March, p325). The pilots will allow the Security Management Service to assess the incidence of violence in community pharmacies as well as the effectiveness of the reporting system.