ALMOST 100 separate incidents of staff at Barnsley Hospital being attacked by patients were recorded by the trust last year, the latest figures have revealed.
A Freedom of Information request, obtained by the Chronicle, shows that a total of 98 incidents have been recorded at the Gawber Road site over the latest 12-month period.
It’s an overall decrease from the figures from 2022/23 where a total of 159 separate incidents of physical assault were recorded.
However, bosses say that even one attack is too many and are taking extra precautions to help lower the number of incidents over the upcoming year.
A spokesperson for Barnsley Hospital told the Chronicle: “The reduction is part of the impact of successful campaigns such as ‘No Place For Hate’.
“However, we do have more work to do as we have a zero-tolerance policy towards physical violence.
“Going forward, we are also embarking on a new public and staff awareness campaign as the next stage of our work against violence and aggression.”
The No Place For Hate initiative was formally brought forward by Barnsley Council in 2021 following a six-month planning process.
It hopes highlight online abuse and hate comments in the attempt to eradicate hate speech from social media platforms.
The idea was championed following a series of reports made by Barnsley Council employees who revealed the abuse they had received online.
The campaign has been joined by other businesses and organisations across the borough including Barnsley College, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, Barnsley LGBT+ Forum, Barnsley Hospital and South Yorkshire Police who will all work to eliminate online abuse across their social media platforms.
It also hopes to tackle abuse on a wider scale, including for hospital bosses who are hoping the scheme will help incidents decrease even further.
In a bid to clamp down on violence against staff, some areas have previously been assigned body-worn cameras in high-risk areas such as A and E.
The NHS trust receives accounts of incidents against staff which have included physical attacks resulting in fractures, verbal abuse such as inappropriate sexual comments, and telephone abuse against administration staff.
The hospital has also been offering practical training to staff in how to deal with incidents of aggression and violence and encouraging staff to report incidents of hate, hostility and abuse including those based on gender, mental health, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age, disability or gender identity
For the first time ever, the NHS staff survey - an annual poll of all NHS staff, with more than 600,000 responses - asked workers if they had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour in the previous 12 months, which includes inappropriate language, sexual jokes or assault.
The survey showed 9.2 per cent of 2,248 respondents at Barnsley Hospital said they experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual behaviour by a member of the public in 2023.
Meanwhile, a further 2.4 per cent of staff said a fellow colleague or other staff had behaved in an undesired sexual manner towards them on at least one occasion.
It means there were at least 260 incidents of sexual harassment towards staff at Barnsley Hospital last year.
Professor Vivien Lees, vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said gathering data on sexual harassment ‘is an important step as it gives us a better picture of the scale of the problem’.
NHS England launched its sexual safety charter last September, which commits to enforcing a zero-tolerance approach to any unwanted sexual behaviours in the workplace.
Barnsley Hospital signed the pledge.
Professor Lees added: “It is essential staff members feel empowered to report instances of misconduct without fear of reprisal or negative impact on their career progression.”
