Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to provide protections to NHS frontline staff against violent and dangerous patients similar to those provided for police and fire officers; and if he will make a statement.

National Health Service staff are committed to providing health services and work hard to do so. They should not expect to suffer violence at work and this must not be tolerated. The priority is to prevent violence through measures to protect staff and by managing potentially risky situations before they escalate.

Employers in the NHS are responsible for assessing the risks of violence to their staff, for taking action to address these through prevention work, and for pursuing legal action when assaults do occur.

When incidents occur, the Department encourages the NHS to work with local police forces in seeking legal sanctions against anyone who is violent to staff. Joint working agreements on pursuing sanctions are in place between the NHS, the National Police Chiefs Council and the Crown Prosecution Service.