Violence against hospital staff rises by a third

The trust which runs Colchester Hospital has published its annual health and safety report

Reports of violence towards hospital staff increased by almost a third in a year, an NHS trust said.

The East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust recorded 648 incidents of violence and aggression in the past financial year, its annual health and safety report revealed.

More than half of those reports were for clinical assaults, including 173 at Colchester Hospital and 147 at Ipswich Hospital.

The latest data shows violence and aggression at the two hospitals rose by 32% in the same period the year before, when 491 reports were made.

The report said this type of experience continued to be reported more than any other type of health and safety incident by hospital staff.

Some staff were given body worn cameras in August last year to tackle the issue, it added.