Nurses are to be given a direct hotline to police to help combat violent attacks.

From tonight, front-line A &E staff at Hull Royal Infirmary (HRI) can call officers on a mobile phone.

It is carried by a senior officer who will dispatch a team of officers to the hospital within two minutes of the emergency call.

Anyone caught abusing staff, physically or verbally, faces an £80 fixed penalty notice and possible arrest.

Inspector Mick Stevenson, who is in charge of the scheme, said the hotline mirrors an operation in pubs in Hull at the weekends.

Like the pub idea, the hospitals project will run on Friday and Saturday nights.

According to Insp Stevenson, every time his officers have responded to a pub call, someone has been arrested.

He said: "The hospital does have a problem with abusive patients. Staff do their utmost to calm these people down, but sometimes it is like banging your head against a brick wall.

"All staff in the A &E department will be given our public order hotline number. Their call will go through to me or another officer and a rapid-response team of two officers will be deployed."

In 2005-06, staff at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust reported 249 physical attacks by patients and visitors. That is compared with 174 during the previous financial year.

The trust covers Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, Princess Royal Hospital in east Hull, and HRI, but most of the incidents happen at the infirmary.

Charge nurse Andrea Clark, 39, has been spat at, pushed and chased down a ward at HRI, and says violence is commonplace.

She said: "It is worrying and something we are very aware of. It is not just the patients either. Friends and family also cause problems.

"Nurses spend a lot of time alone with patients. It can be very frightening being confronted by a violent patient, especially if you're a junior.

"We would certainly welcome anything that makes us safer.

"Hopefully, if people see a police presence in A &E word will spread and we will see less trouble."

Security is already tight at HRI with a team of 25 security guards equipped with stab vests. Andy Thompson, who is in charge of the team, said the majority of attacks at HRI are carried out by drunks.

He said: "Staff will find this initiative very comforting. The fines will hit the troublemakers in the pocket and hopefully serve as a deterrent."

Pauline Lewin, the trust's director of facilities, said: "We have a clear stance on physical and verbal assaults on staff. We will not tolerate them.

"This initiative is another way to improve staff safety."

Comments:

The root cause of the high number of drunks being at A&E in the first place is the fact that custody staff at Police stations will not accept people who are ' drunk and incapable'. If the person is homeless or lives on their own, then the only place they can be taken is A&E, despite the fact that they are not ill at all. This is a huge burden for staff there and it's a ridiculous waste of resources. It's also worth mentioning that people who are severely drunk can't be given an £80 fine. They would have to be arrested, and so you have the Catch 22 situation.

Police Officer, Hull

Mick Pilling (Writes); A Police Officer in the A & E department would be a brilliant deterrent, but, police are short of staff now and people know that!