Police called to thousands of incidents of patient violence at hospitals
Police have been called to deal with incidents at Scotland’s hospitals and health centres on nearly 10,000 occasions in the past five years.
Thousands of cases, predominantly involving violence and aggression towards staff and patients, have been recorded since 2018.
It means Police Scotland officers are called to NHS settings on average more than five occasions every single day.
The figures, obtained through Freedom of Information requests by policing and justice magazine 1919, show that nearly half of the instances occurred within the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
Of the health board’s 4,422 police calls in five years, 2,318 concerned the behaviour of people towards either staff or other patients.
The nationwide figure will be even higher, with some health boards – including NHS Lothian and NHS Lanarkshire – unable to provide the relevant information.
The research found the vast majority of 999 calls came from major hospitals.
However, some were recorded from health centres and pharmacies within towns and villages, and there were even a handful of cases where NHS staff attending patients’ homes were forced to call for police support.
The annual figures have fluctuated, with last year’s 1,736 cases a reduction from 2021 when there were 1,925 call-outs.
David Threadgold, chair of the Scottish Police Federation, said: “While Police Scotland will always try and respond to all 999 calls, the data shows that the situation across the NHS estate – even without returns from large NHS authorities – is becoming unsustainable from a policing perspective.
“Colleagues from the Royal College of Nursing highlight ‘increasing demands and staff shortages’ and Police Scotland is no different.
“As we consult internally to identify areas to reduce police officer numbers across Scotland, the impact will be felt in the NHS and across our communities.
“We must continue to demand further investment in policing to ensure that we can deliver the service that the public, and hardworking police officers across Scotland seek and demand.”
Norman Provan, associate director for the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland, told 1919: “These figures are extremely worrying.
“The increasing demands and staff shortages are piling the pressure onto nursing teams who are doing their best in very challenging circumstances.
“They should not have to put up with verbal or physical assaults.
“All health boards have a duty of care to protect their staff from attack and we encourage members who experience any type of aggression or violence to report it.”
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Maurice Golden said some areas of the country need more support in cracking down on this behaviour than others.
He told 1919: “It’s understandable that police should be required to attend major settings like hospitals every now and then.
“But for thousands of instances to have been recorded in the last five years is alarming, and shows just what hardworking NHS staff are up against.
“It’s clear that the behaviour of some patients who need hospital care is totally unacceptable.
“Unless it’s made clear that this conduct won’t be tolerated, we risk the safety of even more NHS staff in future.
“These figures show the problem is worse in certain parts of the country, and targeted work is obviously required in areas like Glasgow and Dundee to ensure this doesn’t spiral out of control.”