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Hospital staff to train as police Hospital staff to train as police University Hospital Aintree in Liverpool is training members of its staff as special constables in order to crack down on on-ward violence. The government welcomed the move, but the Royal College of Nursing warned that a possible conflict of interest could develop among staff. After over 84,000 violent or aggressive incidents towards health workers recorded in the UK last year, many hospitals are working to tackle the problem of violence on the wards. At University Hospital Aintree, employees will be trained and recruited into the Merseyside Police next month, patrolling the hospital in their spare time. With a 13% rise in violent incidents against health workers last year, a Department of Health spokeswoman said: “Any violence towards staff is abhorrent and unacceptable. Anything that the hospital and staff do to tackle that we support wholeheartedly.” The Royal College of Nursing warned that there could be problems if staff dealt with patients in a medical capacity one moment and as a special constable the next. But a spokesman at University Hospital Aintree said: “The staff’s knowledge of the hospital and the site will be an advantage in their role as specials.”
Published: 16 November 2004 Ref: BBC Online