County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is reaffirming its commitment to keeping patients, visitors and staff safe through its Violence Prevention and Reduction approach.
Every day, our staff come to work to provide compassionate, high-quality care. While the vast majority of patients and visitors treat our teams with respect, incidents of violent, threatening or abusive behaviour do occur — and these can have a serious impact on the wellbeing of our colleagues and on the delivery of safe care.
The Trust has a zero-tolerance stance on deliberate acts of violence or aggression in our hospitals.
Individuals who display harmful behaviour may be asked to leave the site. In the most serious circumstances, they may lose their right to access care at our hospitals, except where treatment is immediately clinically necessary.
Any individual who commits an act of violence may also face police action.
We are asking everyone who uses our services to help us maintain a safe and supportive environment.
By treating our staff with courtesy and respect, you play a vital role in helping us deliver the best possible care for all.
Thank you for standing with us to keep our hospitals safe.