CLOSED CIRCUIT TV cameras are to be installed in four Welsh hospitals’ accident and emergency wards and Cardiff-based ambulances in a bid to cut down on violent attacks on medical staff.
Latest National Health Service statistics show there are more than 20 attacks on doctors, nurses and ambulance paramedics each day in Welsh hospitals, varying from verbal abuse to serious physical assaults, and the numbers are increasing. Describing such assaults as “unacceptable”, Welsh health minister Edwina Hart said the CCTV cameras would make “people think twice before abusing staff” and provide evidence for prosecutions.
The hospitals chosen for the one-year pilot project are the Prince Charles in Merthyr Tydfil, the Royal Gwent in Newport, the West Wales General in Carmarthen and the Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, along with five Cardiff ambulances.
Patients’ privacy will be protected, she said: “In undertaking this pilot, absolute priority will be given to ensuring patient privacy and dignity, involving close liaison with doctors, nurses and patient representatives. Clear signage will be displayed.” The cameras in ambulances will not operate automatically, and will only be turned on if a paramedic fearing attack presses a panic button, said Grant Gordon of the Welsh Ambulance Service.
The introduction of CCTV in AE wards and ambulances was recommended by an expert group last year, along with providing personal alarms to health staff working alone in communities.
The Welsh assembly now plans to spread the use of close-circuit cameras throughout Wales, if the £300,000 pilot project is deemed successful, which could prompt its use throughout the UK.
Demanding zero tolerance for attackers, Richard Lewis, Welsh secretary of the British Medical Association, said staff should be protected from assault, and helped afterwards if they are injured.