HC Deb 12 February 2002 vol 380 c328W
Tom Brake

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many ambulance crew members had to take sick leave owing to being assaulted while on duty in each of the last 10 years; [33038]

(2) how many ambulance crew members are on sick leave owing to being assaulted while on duty; [33039]

(3) how many ambulance crew members were assaulted while on duty in each of the last 10 years. [33040]

Ms Blears

Information on level of sickness absence resulting from violence at work, by individual staff group, is not collected centrally, but may be held at a local level by individual national health service employers. Data on violent incidents and sickness absence involving all staff in the NHS were not collected on a national basis prior to 1998.

The Department conducted a survey of NHS trusts in England in 1998–99. The survey found that, on average, seven violent incidents were recorded each month per 1,000 staff. This is equivalent to approximately 65,000 violent incidents against NHS trust staff each year. Details of the survey can be found in Health Service Circular 1999/229: "Managing Violence, Accidents and Sickness Absence in the NHS", a copy of which is in the Library.

The average sickness absence rate for staff directly employed by NHS ambulance trusts in 1999 was 6.6 per cent.

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