NHS: Crimes of Violence

Kelvin Hopkins
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding is allocated within the NHS for protecting staff from intimidation and violence; what guidance has been issued to trusts on how these funds should be spent; and what safeguards have been put in place to ensure the funding is spent for the purposes for which it is intended.

Mr. Bradshaw
National health service allocations for individual primary care trusts are not broken down into funding for separate areas such as staff safety, neither is funding received by providers via the national tariff. It is not possible for the Department to make an accurate assessment of the need to spend on individual priorities at the local level and ring fencing of funding would undermine local assessments and decision-making.

Employers have a duty to address the risks to staff and to ensure their safety. The national health service security management service assist local decisions by providing employers with guidance and support to ensure an effective approach to preventing violence and, where such incidents do occur, to taking action against offenders.

The Department has not centrally monitored the amount spent within the national health service on protecting staff from intimidation and violence.