Hosptial investigation complete

Wednesday 13 December 2000

The Occupational Safety and Health Service has release the report on its investigation into safety standards at Healthlink South’s Hillmorton Rehabilitation Unit.

The four-month investigation resulted from a perceived high rate of violence at the hospital and in particular two recent serious assaults on staff.

The wide-ranging investigation included detailed scrutiny of the circumstances around the individual assaults, as well as examining wider systems and practices at the hospital.

The investigation found no evidence that the two serious assaults on staff resulted from a failure to comply with the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

The investigation also found that the rate of assaults at the Hillmorton Unit is not dissimilar to those found in overseas research.

Despite this, the investigation did identify areas where steps need to be taken to minimise the risk of violent assault at the facility. A number of recommendations have been included in the report that address the areas of concern.

A working party set up by Healthlink South is already addressing some of the issues raised in OSH’s report.

OSH will still continue to closely monitor safety standards at Hillmorton. This will include measuring progress to achieving the recommendations raised in the report, and by continuing to investigate serious incidents and complaints at Hillmorton.