Ban on abusers

A health trust’s decision to ban troublemakers from its hospitals has been hailed as “absolutely right” by an MP.

Bernard Jenkin spoke out after bosses at Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust said they were clamping down on verbal or physical aggression towards their staff.

The trust, which runs Essex County Hospital and Colchester General Hospital, already adopts a zero tolerance attitude towards people being verbally or physically aggressive towards staff.

Now persistent offenders face being banned from both hospitals.

If a patient verbally or physically abuses a member of staff they will be served with a warning letter and if they do it again they will be automatically banned from the hospital for all but life-threatening conditions. 

David Hewitt, the trust’s director of facilities, planning and development, added that although the problem was worse in the accident and emergency department the policy applied to all wards and outpatients in both hospitals.