Violence Report 2006 final.pdf - BMA
Violence Report 2006 final.pdf - BMA
Violence Report 2006 final.pdf - BMA
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Health Policy & Economic Research Unit<br />
Summary<br />
Aim<br />
• The aim of the study was to explore the incidence of violence against doctors in an attempt to<br />
understand better the extent of such incidences and the impact such violence has on the lives<br />
of doctors.<br />
Method<br />
• A postal survey of 4,669 doctors in Northern Ireland was undertaken. Doctors were asked about<br />
their personal experience of workplace violence, in addition to their views and perceptions of<br />
violence in the workplace more generally.<br />
Findings<br />
• <strong>Violence</strong> is a problem in the workplace for almost half of the doctors who responded and more<br />
than a quarter were of the opinion that the level of violence had increased in their workplace over<br />
the last year.<br />
• Doctors in the SHO hospital grade were more likely to report experience of violence in the<br />
workplace, followed by GPs. Comparison with a study of workplace violence against GPs in<br />
Northern Ireland undertaken in 2003, shows that the reported incidence of workplace violence has<br />
not improved in the last 3 years.<br />
• Most respondents experienced violence from patients or from patients’ families/relatives. The<br />
incidence of verbal abuse was the most prevalent form of violence or abuse in the workplace,<br />
followed by threats and physical assaults.<br />
• More than a quarter of doctors who reported experience of workplace violence, experienced<br />
physical violence or abuse. Among those doctors, a third stated that they received minor injuries as a<br />
result of the incident and 3 per cent reported serious injuries.<br />
• The majority of violent incidents took place in the hospital ward or doctors’ office. In two-thirds of<br />
cases, respondents reported that the incident took place during working hours, whilst a fifth took<br />
place during out-of-hours.<br />
• The most frequently stated reason for a violent incident against a doctor was dissatisfaction with the<br />
service provided, followed by intoxication with alcohol/drugs, health related/personal problems or a<br />
history of violence/abuse.<br />
• In less than half of cases, some form of action was taken following the violent incident. Three<br />
quarters of the doctors reported the incident to a line manager or senior colleague and a third<br />
reported the incident to the police.<br />
<strong>Violence</strong> in the workplace – The experience of doctors in Northern Ireland 1