Health Questions: Assaults on NHS Staff
30th March 2010
Mike Penning questions Health Ministers on the persistent failure to prosecute those who assault NHS staff - only 1.3 per cent of assaults on NHS staff result in any form of criminal sanctions.
Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): The whole House will agree that any assault on NHS staff is abhorrent, and that the full force of the law should come down on the perpetrators. The fact that 54,000-plus assaults on staff took place in 2008-09 is fundamentally wrong. However, the Minister's warm words about prosecution fall flat when we consider that only 1.3 per cent. of assaults on NHS staff result in any form of criminal sanctions. Why are so many people getting away with assaulting our NHS staff? Why is the full force of the law not coming down on them?
Ann Keen: The hon. Gentleman is right to show his concern, but it is not for us to prosecute such cases; it is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service. We do everything in our power to encourage such prosecutions to be brought, however-for example, we do everything we can to encourage evidence to be produced. We also want to prevent such assaults, and train people to prevent them.
