New initiatives keeping Queensland healthcare workers safe

Queensland hospitals are now much safer for staff, patients and their families thanks to strong action-based solutions in response to key recommendations from the Occupational Violence Oversight Committee.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick said the Palaszczuk Government wasted no time both forming the Committee and rolling out a range of initiatives to ensure the safety of frontline healthcare workers now and well into the future.

“There has never been more support for staff and patients on the ground to combat the issue of violence in our hospitals which is a scourge on both our health system and our wider community,” Mr Dick said.

“Our dedicated doctors, nurses and paramedics come to work to look after patients – not to become patients themselves.”

“No matter what the case or the cause, there is no excuse for abuse.

“That’s why over the past six months we’ve been hard at work implementing everything from CCTV cameras and voice-activated duress alarms, to more security officers, peer support programs and de-escalation training to prevent unnecessary violence from occurring in our hospitals and community health services.”

Ken Whelan, head of the Committee and Chief Executive of Metro North - Australia’s largest public health service - said hospitals across Queensland were reaping the benefits of the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations.

“Every security officer at Metro North HHS and Gold Coast HHS are now wearing body-worn cameras with the option soon to be available for every hospital in Queensland,” Mr Whelan said.

“These cameras are the same our colleagues in the Queensland Police Service use and they are making a big difference, not only acting as a deterrent for potential violence but also assisting the QPS when it comes to prosecuting offenders. 

“At both Gympie Hospital and Nambour Hospital, an Australia-first trial starting soon will see security officers focused on proactive engagement strategies in EDs like providing additional food to waiting patients and updating them on why they are waiting as critical patients are being treated.

“Mackay Hospital and Health Service are busy rolling out a peer support pilot program. While our Education and Training working group is currently developing standardised awareness training for staff across the Queensland.”

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Emergency Department specialist Dr David Rosengren said just a matter of months after the anti-violence initiatives began, encouraging reports of positive change had been flowing in.

“Anecdotally, what we’re hearing is these initiatives really are working to safeguard our staff and to change community behaviour and attitudes towards them, and that we’re seeing less violent and aggressive incidents occurring as a result,” Dr Rosengren said.

“Our clinical staff are also more confident and self-assured knowing that they are now better protected from becoming a punching bag while they’re practicing, and they can now focus their attention on the job at hand, which is providing vital health services for the community.”

Mr Dick said the battle to tackle violence isn’t over, with a new arsenal of initiatives set to even further bolster the campaign to stamp out assaults against frontline staff including:

• Development of a state-wide central victim support unit framework to support health workers who have become victims of violence, particularly workers whose perpetrators are going through the court system
• Revision of security guidelines for the first time in 16 years to reflect current practises
• Upgrades to CCTV at Redlands and Queen Elizabeth II hospitals
• Upgrades to security of after-hours car park at Maryborough Hospital
• Extra security officers at Gladstone Hospital
• Improved processes for responding to and investigating documented cases of occupational violence across the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
• Implement suitable de-escalation training for staff in Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service
• Increase CCTV at Mornington Island 
• Review of CCTV equipment at Bundaberg Hospital
• Central West HHS will soon begin occupational training sessions

“In all corners of our state, from Cape York to Coolangatta, we want Queenslanders to know that whether they’re visiting our hospitals to work, to stay or to drop in to see a sick loved one, we are doing everything we can to ensure they have a safe experience free from senseless violence,” Mr Dick said.

ENDS

Media contact: Minister's Office 3035 6100

Initiatives underway since September 2016 in response to recommendations from the Occupational Violence Oversight Committee include:

• Ground-breaking partnership program with the Queensland Nurses Union to optimise staff engagement and patient safety at Gold Coast HHS which has seen a 50 per cent reduction in aggressive patient episodes in one of our mental health wards at Robina Hospital
• New personal threat/violence procedures for Gold Coast HHS staff which focus on how to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from aggressive incidents
• Upgrade of CCTV cameras at Princess Alexandra and Logan Hospitals
• Installation of CCTV self-facing monitors across Metro North HHS
• Additional CCTV cameras installed at Toowoomba Hospital and Ridley Unit
• Additional high-resolution CCTV cameras  have been installed in Hervey Bay Hospital ED
• Improved security lighting, CCTV cameras and roll out of safe rooms across Darling Downs HHS
• Employment of 15 more security officers across Metro North HHS with permanent station of officers and installation of aggression count readers in every ED
• Staff communication campaign encouraging reporting of all incidents of violence throughout Children’s Health Queensland
• Various training courses including for safety, awareness and de-escalation at Sunshine Coast HHS
• The establishment of a taskforce and appointment of a project team at Sunshine Coast HHS
• Extra after-hours security support at Ipswich Health Plaza
• Relocation of security staff closer to Emergency Department at Wide Bay HHS
• Two extra fire safety and security officers at Rockhampton Hospital
• Established partnership between Mackay HHS and Queensland Police Service to support HHS response to occupational violence
• Safe Ward program implemented in all regional facilities in North West HHS