Covid: Dozens of staff abused at Hywel Dda 'for wearing PPE'

NHS staff at a Welsh health board faced 61 incidents of violence and aggression in a month, the health board has said.

Hywel Dda University Health Board, which covers large parts of west Wales, said staff had been abused on hospital wards and in the community.

Community health practitioners were "confronted, challenged and abused" for wearing PPE, it added.

Director of nursing Mandy Rayani said staff were feeling "increasingly upset" as a result of the abuse.

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Staff at Hywel Dda experienced 61 incidents of violence and aggression in September, an average of just over two every day.

The health board provides services to about 384,000 people in Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, which includes some of the most rural areas of Wales.

It has the lowest number of coronavirus deaths out of any Welsh health board area which contains a general hospital, with 116 since the start of the pandemic, according to Public Health Wales figures.

Powys has a lower figure, but does not count deaths of residents in hospitals outside of the county.

Ms Rayani said: "Staff who are working very hard to deliver care and treatment are feeling increasingly upset due to verbal abuse, and sometimes threatening and intimidating behaviour by patients and relatives, particularly when being asked to leave a department whilst their relative is being assessed.

"While the majority of the public treat NHS staff with respect, and appreciate the very difficult work they are doing in challenging circumstances, there are sadly a number of people who behave in a way which causes staff to feel at risk."

She added healthcare workers wearing PPE was now standard practice and did not necessarily mean workers were treating Covid-19 cases.