Stop Vicious attacks on health staff

9.255 assaults on workers last year

- EOGHAN MURPHY

EVERY day an average of 25 healthcare staff are assaulted in their workplace - with almost 9,300 attacks last year.

Shocking new figures, released by the HSE under the Freedom of Information Act, show 6,844 were physical and 2,371 were verbal. There were also 40 sexual assaults on healthcare staff in 2022.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says violence and aggression towards its members is not a "new phenomenon".

But last year's figures were particularly bleak. The total for 2022 is 9,255 which is a nine per cent increase from 2021, when 8,478 were recorded. The figures cover HSE services, voluntary healthcare organisations and HSE-funded services.

David Hall, the chief executive of Lifeline Ambulance Service, revealed there are two categories of assault. He said: "One are thugs. Then there are unfortunately a smaller number of unwell patients who have violent episodes, and that's very tragic and a risk involved in the job.