title: Physical injury and workplace assault in UK mental health trusts: An analysis of formal reports.
abstract: Workplace violence is a significant problem for health service personnel, with National Health Service (NHS) workers subject to 68 683 physical assaults between 2013 and 2014. Almost 70% of assaults occur in the mental health sector, and although serious, non-fatal injury is rare, the individual and economic impact can be substantial. In the present study, we analysed mandatory incident reports from a national database to examine whether there were identifiable precursors to incidents leading to staff injury, and whether staff characteristics were associated with injury. In line with previous descriptions, we found injury occurred either as a direct result of patient assault or during physical interventions employed by staff to contain aggression. Importantly, we found little evidence from staff reports that patients' symptoms were driving aggression, and we found less evidence of patient perspectives among reports. We make several recommendations regarding the reporting of these events that could inform policy and interventions aimed at minimizing the likelihood of injury.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, University of Manchester, Manchester.|Institute of Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Laoise
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7060-4537
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Renwick
authors.affiliation: Nursing Research Unit, Kings College London.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavelle
authors.affiliation: Verita.
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Social Work, and Human Sciences, University of West London.
authors.forename: Duncan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: McPin Foundation, London, UK.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Childhood, Families, and Health, Institute of Education, University College London.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust.|Institute of Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, University of Manchester, Manchester.
authors.forename: Owen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Price
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry.
authors.forename: Len
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bowers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: aggression; inpatient; staff injury; violence