By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A purpose-built room for aggressive emergency department patients will be installed at Casey Hospital.
The behavioural assessment room will be used to manage patients who put staff, patients or themselves at risk of harm, Narre Warren South MP Judith Couacaud Graley said.
In 2015-’16, there were 585 occupational violence incidents reported at Monash Health hospitals including Casey.
A total of 33 incidents led to a staff injury, illness or condition.
“The new behavioural assessment room will take violent and aggressive patients out of the emergency department, where they may also be threatening or disrupting other patients, and put them into an environment where they can calm down and receive safe assessment and treatment,” Ms Graley said.
“No hospital worker or patient deserves to be assaulted or threatened – that’s why we’re taking the action needed to make our hospitals safer.”
Recently Monash Health received funding for CCTV cameras and to upgrade secure electronic access doors at its hospitals.
The hospital’s security guard numbers will also rise as part of the State Government’s bolstered $40 million Health Service Violence Prevention Fund.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick welcomed the extra security funds and a new workplace safety campaign to protect hospital staff from “everyday violence”.
“Nurses are hit by frustrated parents waiting with their children in emergency, midwives are threatened by former partners of mothers who have just given birth and nurses are chastised for calling the police when a patient throws furniture at them,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.
The families of nurses, midwives, doctors and paramedics should not have to worry if they will come home safely tonight.”
Ms Fitzpatrick said improving safety need not cost money but involved a change to the culture that accepted violence as part of the job.
A Monash Health spokesman said planning for the behavioural assessment room was progressing well.
“We take occupational violence and aggression extremely seriously.
“To reduce the number of incidents a range of staff training initiatives are underway.”
