Robert Carmichael, the East Londonderry Ulster Unionist Party Association Chairman, has warned that the NHS may have to employ professional guards or people trained in the martial arts to protect medical and clerical staff from violent attacks from the public.

Mr Carmichael said ambulance crews and staff working in accident and emergency units were having to bear the brunt of society’s increasing ‘thug syndrome’.

He said: “We must face the harsh reality that we are living in a very socially violent society whereby people take out their frustrations against the medical personnel who are actually trying to assist them.

“The ambulance crews and the hospital accident and emergency staff are in the frontline of our health service. The only way to prevent these attacks is to employ professional guards or people trained in the martial arts to protect our already strained medical staff.

placeholder image — Robert Carmichael, Chairman of the East Londonderry UUP Association

“We do not want a situation where our A and E units resemble battlefield hospitals with troops or police on duty, but it is imperative that we create a safe working environment for our medical staff.

“CCTV measures are not enough to protect medical staff from the determined thug. It is not just the staff who are at risk. There is also the danger that these thugs can target other patients and their relatives in the A and E units.

“I call on the Stormont Executive to ensure our UUP Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has specific funding set aside for the protection of medical staff both in the hospitals and with the ambulances.

“The health service is facing a big enough crisis with the extent of the waiting lists and the lack of trained nurses. But we cannot allow a situation to develop whereby experienced paramedic and A and E staff leave the health service as a direct result of this increasing violence towards them.

“This is a desperate situation and it requires tough measures. We have to confront the ‘thug syndrome’ head on for the benefit of staff, patients and relatives alike.

“Words of condemnation of these attacks on our medical staff are not enough. Direct action must to taken and we as a society must not wait until a nurse, doctor or paramedic is killed in the line of duty before implementing a workable protection system for medical staff,” said Mr Carmichael.