‘We’ve paid our taxes’ used to justify attacks on NHS staff, MPs told

Some patients feel entitled to attack and verbally abuse NHS staff because they have paid their taxes, MPs have heard.

Conservative Oliver Dowden (Hertsmere) called for tougher powers to punish people who attack NHS workers, saying he had been “inundated” with examples of aggression towards nurses and doctors who have been spat at, punched and kicked while on duty.

He was speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on an e-petition to make it a specific criminal offence to attack NHS staff, which has received more than 115,000 signatures.

Mr Dowden said: “There is also a wider question about changing attitudes towards NHS staff. Now the petitions committee received evidence that amongst some there is a sort of an entitlement attitude that says, ‘We’ve paid our taxes’, and this is sometimes used to justify aggressive behaviour towards NHS staff.

“This is something that really needs to be stamped out.”

There were more than 70,000 recorded assaults on NHS staff in England last year, compared with 68,000 in 2015, he said.

It is already a specific offence to assault police officers, prison staff and immigration officials however NHS workers do not have this higher legal provision.

Mr Dowden said creating a dedicated legal offence for NHS staff would send a strong message that attacks were unacceptable.

He said: “I do nonetheless think that the fact that we have created specific offences for police, immigration and prison officers but not for NHS workers could potentially amount to a discrepancy and I think it is important that we send the strongest possible signal from this place that such assaults are unacceptable and I do think that a specific offence is one way of doing that.”

His concerns were echoed by Labour’s Liz McInnes, a former NHS employee and trade union representative, who warned that long waiting lists were creating “a perfect storm of tension and unrest” among patients.

She said: “It is undeniable that our NHS staff are under a great deal of pressure at the moment with long waiting lists, patients waiting on trolleys in corridors and having to deal with angry relatives because of this.

“The Government with their current handling of the NHS appear to be creating a perfect storm of unrest and discontent amongst patients and relatives, which is likely to exacerbate tension and ill-feeling, and the Government must take some responsibility for this.”

However, the Heywood and Middleton MP dismissed calls for an automatic prison term for attackers as she said many assaults on staff were committed by patients with mental health concerns such as dementia.

SNP health spokeswoman Dr Philippa Whitford described how she had been threatened while working as a surgeon in the NHS in Scotland.

She said: “What I had was a man about six inches from my face with both fists clenched.

“Now because they knew about it, the staff literally were not seeing anyone else and had their ear at the door.

“The problem for me was I couldn’t afford to fall out with this man because the pale woman sitting in the chair had breast cancer and I knew I was going to have to work with the two of them afterwards.

“Now the challenge to de-escalate that kind of situation is enormous.”

She said the pressure staff are under in A&E “pours petrol on the flames” for frightened patients and relatives, and called for better support and training for NHS staff to cope with aggression.

Tory Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) said that any new legislation must not be “mere window dressing” and called for stronger action to improve enforcement.

Mr Chalk, who sits on the justice committee, said: “We have to be clear that if we are to create a further offence, will that mean that those people standing in A&E think they have got a better chance of securing justice?

“A shiny new piece of legislation in and of itself won’t, what has to happen is there has got to be the will and the resources to make it happen.”

Shadow health minister Justin Madders said attacks on NHS employees were “contemptible” and called for the terms to be broadened to include non-medical staff such as receptionists and cleaners.

He said: “The people who work within it [the NHS] are by far the most single important component in its success.

“So if you want to ensure that asset continues to be a source of great pride for the people of this country, we have to value the staff who work within it, respect them, and above all we have to protect them.”

But Justice Minister Sam Gyimah rejected the call for a new NHS-specific offence to be created.

He said the emphasis should instead be placed on the effective implementation of existing laws.

He said: “I am not persuaded that there is a need to create a specific offence for this particular group of workers.”

He added: “Even in the case of prison officers where there is a specific offence, the most important thing we find is actually having better law enforcement.

“The fact that a specific offence exists on its own does not lead to an increase in prosecutions.

“What you need is the better law enforcement that I have outlined.”

Mr Gyimah said in cases of wrongdoing there should be “no hesitation in involving the police” and he agreed with MPs that courts should treat cases of assault against public servants more seriously and perpetrators should be punished more severely.

“Patients and members of the public should respect NHS staff and must not be abusive or violent towards them,” he said.

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