Safety of Redditch psychiatric ward staff 'at risk'

The Hill Crest Ward is in Redditch, Worcestershire

An escalation of violent incidents on a psychiatric ward have left staff feeling both unsafe and ill-equipped to do the job, a union says.

Unison said it feared for its members in Redditch after the latest challenge in a series.

Citing fears over staffing levels on Hill Crest Ward, it said the episode saw workers lock themselves away after a patient threatened to scald them.

The trust in charge said the incident was managed in line with policies.

According to Unison, patients smashed furniture following the 2 July incident, and West Mercia Police confirmed officers were called to the scene.

"These staff are doing a very dangerous job and they didn't feel equipped to deal with the incident," said Mike Wilson, Unison regional organiser.

"Incidents have been raised on Hill Crest ward for some time."

'Punched in the face'

Other incidents involve an employee being punched in the face, and a heavily-pregnant woman being threatened.

Unison complains of extreme short-staffing and a reliance on agency workers.

Additionally, a source claimed that placements for some violent patients were sought on an intensive psychiatric unit, but were not always available.

And while one patient had since been transferred, the one who made the scalding threat remained on the ward.

'Significant vacancies'

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health Care Trust confirmed it had a "significant number of vacancies" and said of the eight staff on duty at the time of the incident, three were agency workers.

The trust added there was "no suggestion there was a loss of control of the ward" on 2 July when, the BBC understands, a patient used a chair leg as a cudgel.

A spokesperson said the incident was dealt with by staff and was "not outside of that which we would expect to occasionally experience on an acute mental health ward".

They added: "All of our staff are trained in the management of violence and aggression which is key to helping keep staff and patients safe."

The trust confirmed it used agency staff "like the majority of NHS providers" and said it was "confident in the quality and experience of the agency staff who work with us and manage relationships with temporary staffing providers to maintain this".

Watchdog the Care Quality Commission said it was aware of the issues and was liaising with parties to gather more information and determine its next steps.

West Mercia Police said it had received a report at about 21:30 BST on 2 July concerning the safety of a patient at Alexandra Hospital.

The force added officers attended and no injuries were reported.