A&E under siege as staff attacked with knives and cleavers for £8.64 an hour

At Southampton General Hospital, security guards show the knives they have confiscated from the public. A meat cleaver, a rusty saw blade and a five-inch knife are lined up with surgical scissors and other potential weapons.

Attacked at A&E, guards’ injuries have included broken noses, ribs and fingers, a dislocated knee, black eyes, a needle injury, being strangled, being spat at – and they have faced threats of being killed.

In one violent assault alone, three security guards were badly injured. In another, a guard was assaulted saving the life of a patient who was trying to jump from a window.

“Things here have got so bad because of police and mental health cuts, and the escalation in knife crime,” one of the security guards tells me.

“We have found all sorts of weapons stashed in the grounds of the hospital, but our employers refuse to give us stab vests or proper protective clothing, or to pay us properly if we get injured.”

Outsourced security guards at SGH and the Princess Anne maternity hospital are paid a flat rate of £8.64 an hour, “which means on weekends and nights we are the least paid people in the building”.

This is by a company, Mitie Security Ltd, that saw revenues grow to £2.2bn in 2018 thanks to new government and NHS contracts. It recently won a five-year extension to the contract at Southampton.

“There are only six of us covering two hospitals on each shift,” says the security guard, who asked to remain anonymous for the sake of his job.

“The emotional stress is unbelievable, and we bring it home to our families. But Mitie’s attitude is, ‘If you don’t like it, leave’.

“It’s not like they don’t know what’s happening to us. We have body-worn cameras, so management are aware. They say if an incident occurs, we should stand back and assess the situation and call the police.

"But we can’t do that if someone has a knife in their possession or when a member of the public or staff is being attacked.”

This week, staff at Southampton General Hospital employed by Mitie began balloting for strike action over pay and conditions.

Unite the Union says its 21 security staff members are being attacked on a regular basis by members of the public.

One shocking testimony shared with Unite regional officer Scott Kemp involved scissors used as a weapon.

“I was called to a ward where a patient had some scissors with the sharp end pointing out, pretty much using them like knuckle dusters,” the security guard said.

“The patient left the ward saying he’ll stab anyone that gets in his way.

"The patient walked towards the main entrance, which is a very busy crowded area during the day. Security had to restrain the patient for everyone’s safety.

“One wrong move and security or others could have been injured, stabbed or potentially killed.

“The police were called but took around 30 minutes to show up. It can’t go on like this.”

If staff are injured – and only then if an investigation finds in their favour – they receive just two weeks’ full pay followed by two weeks’ on half-pay and then the statutory minimum.

“We have members getting beaten up and then having to return to work after two weeks, when they are clearly not fit to,” Kemp says. “To drop down to half pay would mean missing mortgage or rent payments and significant financial hardship.”

Southampton General sees around 450 patients a month who have mental health or substance misuse issues. And from December 2017 to November 2018 there were 976 “behaviour incidents” recorded.

The security staff I spoke to said the lack of stab vests and other protective clothing were affecting not just their physical but mental health.

“I’ve mainly suffered myself with psychological issues,” one man told me.

“We’ve asked for kit to protect us, but they said we can’t have it. When you look down at your arm after work, seeing the pinch and scratch marks is like a remembrance. It’s bad for your mental health.”

Hampshire Police have lost over 500 frontline police roles since 2012 due to government underfunding, while mental health is run locally by Southern Health NHS Trust where problems are well documented.

A Mitie spokesman said: “We take the safety of our staff very seriously and are piloting the wearing of safety gear on site. We are meeting with Unite and ACAS later this month to discuss their proposals.”

Security staff also cover the local maternity hospital. “We are used at the Princess Anne as well for cases when social services say a mother has to give up her baby,” the guard said.

“We have to escort the child from the site. It can be very distressing. Sometimes we sit with a mental health patient for six hours – sometimes three days if there’s no bed available.

“A good day is when we do protect staff and patients. On a bad day you’ve been injured, the money’s poor, the conditions are poor and the safety equipment is non-existent.

“All staff want is to feel safe and rewarded in their job.”

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