Hospital security concern

Five staff at Rockingham General Hospital were kicked and punched by a female patient last week, raising concerns about the level of security at the hospital.

A nurse at the hospital, who was working at the time and witnessed the incident, said the patient went on a violent rampage, assaulting three nurses and two doctors when she woke up. “One staff member was assaulted quite badly and had her glasses broken and hurt her back,” she said.

“It was pretty violent.”

The Telegraph understands the woman was admitted as a mental health patient on Tuesday night of last week and had to be sedated.

The nurse, who blew the whistle on last week’s incident and asked for anonymity, said it was ridiculous only two security staff were employed by the hospital per shift.

“They’re situated in the middle of the hospital between the emergency department and mental health unit,” the nurse said.

“If there’s an incident in emergency it takes them about 60 to 90 seconds to get there, which is too long because that was 30 seconds worth of hitting people and hurting people before security could even get down and get her under control.” A spokeswoman for RGH said while the on-duty security was not in the emergency department at the time of the incident, they provided an “appropriate and immediate response” to the request for assistance.

She said the hospital, which has an accredited mental health inpatient unit, was committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all patients, visitors and staff. “As part of this commitment, staff receive training in managing unforeseen and aggressive incidents such as this,” she said.

An internal incident review into the incident is being prepared for hospital management.

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