EXCLUSIVE: Punched, kicked and stabbed with syringes - daily reality for West Midlands A&E workers
NHS Trusts in Sandwell, West Birmingham and Dudley are now working with West Midlands Police to help combat abuse on staff
Would you show up to work day in day out with the expectation you were going to get verbally and even physically assaulted?
That's what staff members in A&E at the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) have been telling us is their daily reality.
Now, the issue has reach boiling point, with Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust and The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust launching a dedicated operation with West Midlands Police to tackle attacks on staff.
Operation Cavell is built around the simple principle that being assaulted or abused is not part of working for the NHS.
However, for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, they feel it's an issue that isn't spoken about enough and isn't going away.
"They don't see staff members as human beings"
One A&E nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, told us about an incident where she was cornered by a patient in the CT department and severely beaten.
"You become traumatised," she said.
"Because these are patients you want to help."
She added: "Some patients, and some relatives, they don't see staff members as human beings."
Staff members told us assaults don't just come from patients where there may be a medical reason for their behaviour, such as mental health issues or illness such as dementia.
We were shown footage from A&E CCTV where people who were fed up of waiting, unhappy with their care or who were simply engaging in antisocial behaviour could also be seen violently attacking staff members, security workers, and even other patients.
Stacey spent 17 years working in A&E, but now works in Acute Oncology.
During her time in the Emergency Department in Sandwell, she was kicked by a patient with such force she fractured her collarbone.
"We frequently hear every day, oh, such and such has been assaulted.
"It's not out of the norm anymore, it's not surprising."
When the new A&E opened at the MMUH two years ago, Stacey said staff members had to be escorted to their cars by security after finishing shifts because it "wasn't safe for them to walk through the waiting room".
"My daddy looks after sick people. Please don't hurt him"
Michael Brennan, a matron at the hospital's Emergency Department, told us how he was stabbed by a patient in the leg with a syringe needle.
"He was just purely unhappy with the service he was given, so he plunged a syringe into my leg," he said.
As well as being a victim of abuse himself, Michael said he's losing staff to the issue and it's having a knock on affect on the care they're able to provide. It's a problem that's getting worse.
Bullet proof glass in reception and doors reinforced to be ram resistant are just some of the measures taken to try and limit damage and protect staff.
Michael said: "People come into nursing to care for people - they don't come into nursing to be someone's punch bag."
He continued: "Every single day and night, we'll hear of aggression towards staff, violence towards staff, staff being assaulted.
"Over the last six months, we've seen knives pulled on staff and we've had staff cornered and assaulted."
"I've always joked that if you put a camera outside, you'd have a couple of episodes of Eastenders you could film here.
"I don't think the general public are aware of how much of an issue it is."
Michael's daughter now features on posters around the hospital with the simple message: "my daddy looks after sick people, please don't hurt him."
What's being done to help?
The launch of Operation Cavell brings the two NHS Trusts together with West Midlands Police and the wider criminal justice system, to provide a stronger and more consistent response when healthcare workers experience unacceptable behaviour while carrying out their duties.
It's hoped the approach will strengthen joint working between NHS organisations and the police so that incidents can be reported, investigated and acted upon appropriately, and staff members can be supported.
Inspector Sarah Long from the force also heard the same accounts staff members told us.
"They tug at my heartstrings if I'm honest," she said.
"People don't come to work for the NHS to face violence and aggression, they come here because they have a vocation to help people."
She continued: "Our message to NHS colleagues is simple: if you are assaulted or abused at work, then please report it.
"We will respond, investigate where appropriate and identify how to help prevent further incidents."
However, as well as increased police partnership work from here on out, a local charity is also helping reduce incidents of violence at the MMUH Emergency Department.
Volunteers from New BegIn spend their Friday nights in the waiting room, providing support in various forms, whether that be, for example, providing verbal reassurance or food and even emergency housing advice.
"We spend most of our time in the waiting area, looking for people who we think might become difficult later," said Dotty Tipton who's from the charity and used to work for Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust herself.
She said when volunteers are present and offering intervention, violent incidents in A and E "drop to virtually nothing".
Their work helps maintain a calm environment in the department and prevents incidents from arising, rather than dealing with the consequences.
"I think it's a partnership where, we'd love to see, if we can find more people, we'd expand it," Dotty said.
Enough is enough
The Trusts have stressed that Operation Cavell is not about criminalising patients because they are frightened, distressed or unwell - incidents will continue to be considered individually and in context, balancing compassionate, person-centred care with the fundamental right of NHS employees to be safe at work.
Diane Wake, Group Chief Executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust and The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: "For too long our frontline staff have put up with abuse from a small number of those who need NHS help.
"Unfortunately, as the problem has grown, we will redouble our efforts to address it and do whatever it takes to protect our colleagues as they carry out their duties.
"Our colleagues come to work every day to care for people, often when those people are at their most frightened, distressed or vulnerable.
"They deserve to be able to do that without fear of being threatened, abused or assaulted.
"Operation Cavell sends a very clear message. Violence and abuse are not simply part of the job."