Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann – recognises that:

- there has been an ongoing increase in assaults on healthcare workers;

- HSE statistics show that there were 5,593 reported assaults against nursing and midwifery staff between January 2021 and October 2022, which is an under-reporting of the overall amount as it does not include all incidents in section 38 bodies covering the large voluntary hospitals, psychiatry and a broad range of community services where the incidents of assault are also much higher;

- data recorded under the HSE’s Serious Physical Assault Scheme (SPAS) in 2019 shows that 61% of all cases involved nurses being assaulted, and that HSE support staff employees are the second highest category of employees likely to suffer assaults resulting in physical injury and absenteeism from work, constituting 36% of all cases provided in the SAP HR data;

notes that:

- there is unequal treatment of healthcare workers in the supports provided by their employer after an assault, which depending on their grade, even if two staff are assaulted in the same incident and suffer the same injuries;

- following an assault, healthcare workers can avail of the SPAS with support staff granted three months of special paid leave; medical staff, health professional; and clerical administration granted six months; and nurses granted six months with two further extensions of three months each available;

- HSE data shows that after three months, 41% of support staff who have been assaulted in the workplace are still unfit to return to work and then have to transition to sick leave, making application for an injury grant or possibly having no pay if deemed unfit to return to the workplace;

- 41% of the total instances recorded under the SPAS in 2021, resulted in further absences beyond exhaustion of the SPAS entitlements, predominantly onto ordinary sick leave;

- a support worker, such as a healthcare assistant, who is assaulted in the same incident, by the same person, in which a nurse is assaulted, would get up to three months of benefit, whereas the nursing colleague would get benefit for up to one year;

agrees that:

- hospital overcrowding and poor staffing levels are creating a highly pressurised and unsafe work environment for healthcare workers;

- the physical and mental health of all employees working in hospitals and community settings must be a priority for the HSE and other health employers;

- there is a need for the HSA to strengthen its responsibility in respect of workers' health and safety, as well as the connection between poor staffing, overcrowded hospitals and increased assaults;

- there is a critical recruitment and retention problem within the Irish healthcare system and that the continued lack of a multi-annual funded workforce plan, incorporating robust recruitment and retention strategies, contributes to problems already evident due to the baseline staff shortages;

calls on the Government to:

- ensure that the Framework on Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix is appropriately funded, operationalised and expanded across health and social services;

- publish and resource an urgent workforce retention plan from the Department of Health for all grades and as part of that plan, seek ring-fenced funding for continuous professional development for all grades, and to ensure that fund is equitably distributed;

- conduct a review of all relevant protocols to ensure procedures, staffing levels and training are appropriate to minimise the risk of injury from an assault to a healthcare worker, service user, patient or visitor to a healthcare facility;

- develop an educational public awareness campaign which highlights some of the examples of assault on healthcare workers, that should highlight the impact of these assaults on healthcare workers themselves and their families;

- immediately commit to policies designed to support healthcare workers should they suffer an assault in the workplace, based on equality of access and identified need, and not on grade or defined by an outdated system of officer and non-officer.