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Following is a question by the Prof Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (January 7):
Question:
Regarding violence against healthcare personnel of public hospitals while on duty, will the Government inform this Council if it knows, in the past five years:
(1) the annual numbers of cases of violence against healthcare personnel received by the Hospital Authority (HA), with a breakdown by type of violence and by the venue where the case occurred;
(2) the annual numbers of healthcare personnel who reported that they had fallen victim to violence, with a breakdown by the hospital to which such personnel belonged and by grade of such personnel ;
(3) the annual numbers of persons prosecuted for allegedly treating healthcare personnel with violence as well as the annual numbers of persons convicted and the penalties imposed on them; and
(4) whether HA reviewed if the existing security measures as well as the relevant training and support provided by public hospitals for healthcare personnel were adequate for preventing violence against them; if HA did, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Hospital Authority (HA) has all along attached great importance to the work safety for its staff. It has put in place guidelines and measures to prevent and handle workplace violence. My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) and (2) In the past five years from 2009 to 2013, the annual number of cases reported to the Labour Department involving injuries suffered by HA staff due to workplace violence, with breakdown by grade, department and type of violence, is set out at Tables 1 to 3 respectively. The number of injury cases involving workplace violence at the five public hospitals with the largest number of such cases is at Table 4.
(3) In accordance with bylaws 7(1)(c) and 7(1)(d) of the Hospital Authority Bylaws (Cap 113A), no person shall, in a hospital, use any language likely to cause offence or annoyance to any person, or behave in an indecent or disorderly manner. Any person who contravenes the above bylaws commits an offence and is liable on first conviction to a fine of $1,000 and on a second or subsequent conviction to a fine of $2,000 and to imprisonment for one month. The number of workplace violence cases which have been successfully prosecuted under the Hospital Authority Bylaws in the past five years is set out at Table 5. The penalties for the convicted cases included fines ($150 to $2,000) and bind overs (6 to 24 months).
(4) For the safety of its staff, HA has implemented comprehensive occupational safety and health policies as well as management and control measures to prevent and handle workplace violence incidents. These measures include:
(a) Appointing qualified trainers to provide a three-level training programme (Level 1 on "Prevention and Management on Violence and Aggression"; Level 2 on "Breakaway Techniques" and Level 3 on "Control and Restrain of Violent Patients") for frontline staff on an ongoing basis, with a view to enhancing their awareness, knowledge and self-management techniques on the handling and prevention of workplace violence;
(b) Enhancing the webpage on workplace violence to provide relevant information and communication platform for its staff, and putting in place guidelines for communication and logistics, notification and emergency response mechanism in case of workplace violence to set out, for its staff, the way to deal with violence incidents;
(c) Improving workplace design and facilities, e.g. installation of curved mirrors, security monitoring devices and closed-circuit television at junctions of corridors or in hidden locations, and installation of alarm systems at observation wards and triage stations at the Accident and Emergency Department;
(d) Conducting case risk assessment for outreach teams covering community nursing services and community psychiatric services;
(e) Providing patient restraining devices and personal protective equipment in high risk areas, and organising workplace violence incident exercises for high risk work units;
(f) Rendering post-incident support as necessary, e.g. activation of critical incident support teams, provision of clinical psychological counselling and arrangement of healthcare/treatment or rehabilitation service;
(g) Appointing Workplace Violence Prosecution Liaison Officer and Designated Staff, and providing them with suitable training to strengthen their knowledge, techniques and commitment in the investigation and prosecution of workplace violence incidents, so as to ensure that they can provide appropriate support for the frontline staff in the aftermath of workplace violence incidents. Security service and liaison with the Police are also reinforced to provide immediate assistance during incidents; and
(h) For individual or serious cases, the hospitals concerned may report the cases to the Police or initiate prosecution under the Hospital Authority Bylaws.
Various clusters and hospitals have set up occupational safety and health committees to monitor the formulation and implementation of safety measures and review the effectiveness of such measures. HA has also established an anti-workplace violence team to review and strengthen the strategies for prevention and control of workplace violence. To further ensure the safety of staff at work, HA will continue to keep under constant review the effectiveness of these measures and make appropriate improvements where necessary.
Ends/Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:51
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