RECORD levels of ‘abhorrent’ violence and aggression directed towards staff at Barnsley Hospital have been condemned by bosses who have pleaded with the public for support after a man was jailed for attacking a doctor.
John Parminter, 55, assaulted Dr Lourens Van Tonder at the hospital in what prosecutors said was a ‘serious, unprovoked attack’ in July.
Appearing before magistrates last Tuesday, Parminter, from Bridlington, pleaded guilty to one charge of assault and was given a 30-week sentence due to the shocking incident’s severity.
Hospital bosses revealed to the Chronicle that attacks on staff members have increased to ‘new levels’, with medical workers reporting both verbal and physical altercations with members of the public.
In a bid to clamp down on violence, some parts of the site were assigned body-worn cameras in high-risk areas such as A and E, after it was revealed that one in seven staff experienced physical violence from members of the public last year - a rise of 13 per cent on the previous year.
A hospital spokesperson told the Chronicle: “It is not acceptable that NHS staff like Dr Van Tonder are experiencing abusive, intimidating and violent behaviour.
“Hate incidents are significantly under-reported across society and it is no different for the trust.
“Through Barnsley Hospital’s various equality, diversity and inclusion staff networks, the NHS staff survey and online incident reporting system, colleagues have reported that incidents of verbal and physical violence and aggression towards them from patients and visitors continue to increase to new levels.
“The vast majority of patients and the public show nothing but respect and thanks for the skilled care they receive at Barnsley Hospital, but the unacceptable actions of a minority have a massive impact on the professional and personal lives of colleagues providing vital services to Barnsley.
“We’re clamping down on violence, aggression and abuse towards staff as part of our support for the borough’s No Place For Hate campaign.
“The trust has introduced a package of measures to combat such incidents of aggression and abuse, including staff in some assigned high-risk areas being issued with body-worn security cameras and the hospital is also offering practical training to staff in how to deal with incidents of aggression and violence.”
The No Place For Hate initiative was formally brought forward by Barnsley Council in 2021 following a six-month planning process.
It set out to highlight online abuse and hate comments in the attempt to eradicate hate speech from social media platforms.
The campaign was then joined by other businesses and organisations across the borough including the hospital, Barnsley College, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, Barnsley LGBT+ Forum and South Yorkshire Police who are all working to eliminate abuse.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who visited Barnsley town centre’s Health on the High Street setting in the Alhambra yesterday, spoke out following the conviction.
He told the Chronicle: “I’m really concerned about rising attacks on NHS staff - I rarely visit a hospital these days where staff, particularly those in A and E, don’t raise their concerns.
“This is a really serious matter.
“Staff don’t just tell us of their fears and concerns but actually give examples of things they’ve had to endure.
“All staff make some allowances, whether that’s because of a patient going through a mental health crisis, but often it’s just unacceptable aggravation.
“NHS staff have my backing on this zero-tolerance approach.
“They’re there to help you, but they’re certainly not there to take abuse.
“To be honest I am appalled I’m having to spend so much time planning how to provide protection when this should be a given.
“I know it’s frustrating for people to wait and I know some A and Es sometimes aren’t as good as we want them to be as yet, but it really is no excuse for taking it out on staff who are there to help.
“A 30-week jail sentence is extremely serious and I hope that it says to anyone else who subjects a staff member to this that we will take action to protect them.”
