A STAGGERING 64 cases of alleged violence or harassment of staff at a local hospital were reported to the authorities last year, it has emerged.
At least one of the incidents at Kerry General Hospital was referred to gardaí for investigation and all other complaints were brought to the attention of senior Health Service Executive officials.
48 of the alleged incidents involved interactions between patients and staff while 16 other matters involved encounters between members of the public and hospital workers.
In one incident last May there was an allegation that three members of staff at the Tralee hospital were assaulted by a patient.
The male employees claimed they were carrying out duties in the hospital’s psychiatric unit when they were punched and thrown to the ground. They were treated in the hospital’s emergency department.
The HSE said the welfare of staff at the Kerry facility is of paramount importance and appropriate supports have been put in place for staff members.
The Psychiatric Nurses Association has complained that following the winding down and eventual closure of St Finan’s psychiatric hospital in Killarney, patients with challenging and disturbed behaviour were being retained in the admissions unit of Kerry General which had no secure section to accommodate them.
A PNA spokesman said the situation at the unit was unsafe and unsatisfactory and staff expressed fears for their own safety and that of other patients.
