Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Staff at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary subjected to ‘sickening’ assaults during pandemic

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

STAFF working at the north-east’s biggest hospital were assaulted several times while trying to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

There were 54 crimes recorded at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary between March and June, while the NHS battled the crisis.

The most common type of crime was assaults on emergency staff – with 12 cases recorded.

But cases of fraud, the dealing and possession of drugs, and threatening and abusive behaviour, also took place according to figures obtained by Original 106.

The situation was worst in May, when 21 crimes were recorded – just as Scotland had passed the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, said: “Folk across Aberdeen will be sickened to hear of these figures. Why on earth anyone would commit an attack like this is simply beyond me.

“Given the national outpouring for support for NHS staff in recent months, which is well deserved, these incidents absolutely beggar belief.”

Wilma Brown from the union Unison added: “Staff find this really difficult at any time, but it has been particularly difficult to deal with this during the times that they’ve been very busy with the pandemic.

“Obviously someone acting in a close contact way towards staff may also increase the risk of coronavirus, so staff have been very vigilant.

“Unison are always concerned when staff are at the brunt of anyone’s challenging behaviour, be that verbal or physical. We will always be vigilant around staff being exposed to this type of behaviour, and will support staff in any way possible.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said employees who found themselves the target of abuse had been offered support.

She said: “We take any crime committed on hospital premises very seriously and work closely with Police Scotland to support their investigations.

“It is disappointing to see the number of assaults on emergency workers recorded. Our staff, along with colleagues in the Scottish Ambulance Service, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue service, work extremely hard to care for the people of Grampian and we will support any employee who is the victim of a crime while at work.

“It should also be noted that some patients may act in a violent or aggressive manner due to the nature of their medical condition.”