FURTHER steps are being taken to reinforce a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to all forms of unacceptable and threatening behaviour following a spate of abuse dished out to Barnsley Hospital workers.
A Freedom of Information request, obtained by the Chronicle, shows a total of 98 violent incidents were recorded at the Gawber Road site over the latest 12-month period.
However, bosses say that one attack is too many and are taking extra precautions to help lower the number of incidents over the upcoming year as part of October’s ‘Freedom To Speak Up’ month.
Bosses also signed up to the NHS England Sexual Safety Charter, committing to combat behaviour such as sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace.
To further protect staff, it has also partnered with Barnsley Council in a successful bid to the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund.
This includes more CCTV cameras to catch offenders on the most-used routes into the facility - such as Gawber Road and Summer Lane - while security officers and nurses are also using body-worn cameras on site.
Bob Kirton, managing director of Barnsley Hospital, said: “We want all colleagues to feel supported and know they have a right to feel safe at work.
“We have appropriate reporting mechanisms in place for anyone experiencing unwanted, inappropriate and/or harmful behaviours, and we offer support for any in our workforce who need it.”
The trust is already a promoter of the Barnsley-wide ‘No Place For Hate’ campaign, which aims for the borough to be free from abuse online or in the community.
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.
Bob added: “Everyone in our trust has the right to feel safe, whether a patient, visitor or colleague.
“Signing the Sexual Safety Charter is part of our commitment to that.
“We want to actively address all forms of abuse at work or anywhere else and encourage colleagues to speak up.
“We will do all we can to support them - together we will make sure that threatening and unacceptable behaviour has no place in our organisation.”
