More than 5,000 reports of criminal incidents at hospitals
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Gardaí have responded to more than 5,000 reports of criminal incidents at the country’s hospitals since 2018, new figures have revealed.
The highest number of incidents (682) occurred in emergency departments and other healthcare facilities in Dublin’s South Central Garda Division, while more than one in 10 (546) was reported in the North Central division.
Outside the capital, a total of 378 criminal incidents were reported at hospitals in the Cork City division, and 341 occurred in Galway.
Limerick accounted for 309 of the incidents reported at healthcare facilities during the same period.
The statistics show that gardaí are attending hospitals to deal with reports of criminal incidents an average of 20 times every week.
The data was published by acting Justice Minister Heather Humphreys in response to a parliamentary question from Aontú TD Peadar Tóibín.
The nature of the incidents was not specified, but the Health Service Executive (HSE) recently revealed that its healthcare staff had been the subject of verbal, physical, or sexual assault on 4,763 occasions last year.
Around 60% of these incidents involved nurses, while other victims included ambulance personnel, medical practitioners, and catering and housekeeping staff.
In September last year, An Garda Síochána and Cork’s Mercy University Hospital launched a joint initiative aimed at tackling verbal abuse and physical aggression at the facility.
The ‘Hospital Watch’ project is designed to reduce crime and boost security at the facility, while improving crime-prevention awareness among patients and staff.
Tony Fitzpatrick, director of industrial relations with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, has suggested that the occurrence of assaults in hospitals is often linked to the issue of waiting times.
“Unfortunately, nurses and midwives are the most visible workforce in the health service and they often bear the brunt of those assaults," he said.
The figures released by Ms Humphreys show that gardaí have attended hospitals in response to reports of criminal incidents 1,052 times to date this year — 22% more than in the whole of 2021.
Some 1,067 criminal incidents were reported in hospitals in 2018, rising to 1,100 the following year.
The number fell to 981 in 2020 and declined further to 862 last year.