As BBC's Panorama turns its spotlight on the growing threat to nursing staff of violent attack in Britain's hospitals (‘GBH on the NHS', Monday 26th February, BBC1), one of the UK's leading security specialists, Stanley Security Solutions is launching its own campaign to try and improve staff safety in the health service.
As the Panorama programme highlights, an estimated 75,000 NHS workers were victims of violent assaults by patients last year, one every seven minutes, prompting the government and NHS management to reaffirm their commitment to a Zero Tolerance policy.
The programme comes as Stanley Security Solutions launches a new initiative to increase awareness of its Minder staff protection solutions, and whilst A&E departments will be a key focus of its campaign, other high risk environments such as secure units and mental health hospitals will also be targeted. Here Stanley has considerable experience, with two of Britain's highest security hospitals, Rampton and Broadmoor, already using Minder.
Stanley's Minder personal attack alarms are the ideal choice for all hospital employees, but particularly lone workers, staff in high risk areas such as A&E, or wards such as maternity with full 24 hour operation. The Minder products provide fast, reliable and secure two-way messaging and enable staff to raise the alarm and summon help at the push of a red button, in the event of an emergency situation.
Stanley Security Solutions' campaign to make both NHS and Private Trusts aware of the increased necessity for staff protection programmes will be launched later this month. As well as highlighting the need to minimise the risk to staff safety, a key theme will be the reassurance it offers to both hospital managers and, crucially, the staff themselves. Knowing that instant response and assistance is always at hand with a Minder system gives nursing staff much greater confidence leading to enhanced efficiency and performance in their day to day patient care.
Commenting on the Panorama programme and Stanley's own timely campaign, marketing manager Matt Wheeler said: "The programme examines the balance between a hospital's duty of care to its patients and its duty to provide a safe working environment for its staff. It's a theme that we continually reiterate throughout our dealings with the health sector.
"Whilst our products are already being used in hospitals all over the world, the latest statistics on nursing staff attacks underline the scale of the security problem that remains in many UK hospitals. We'll continue to drive forward the message that effective security systems can help protect not just individual hospital staff but also their patients, buildings and equipment."
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