Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ19: Workplace violence involving public hospital staff
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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LCQ19 Table