Threats against Belfast hospital staff

Staff member at Royal Hospital in Belfast were threatened

The management of a Belfast hospital has condemned death threats made against its staff by people claiming to be loyalist paramilitaries.

The weekend ordeal for some of the staff in the Royal Victoria Hospital progressed from verbal assaults to being spat upon, beaten and eventually threatened with their lives.

The hospital's medical director, Dr Ian Carson, said that a gang claiming to be loyalist paramilitaries carried out the attack and that they were actually with a group of patients needing crucial care.

Dr Carson said the threats against staff serving the whole community were "intolerable".

He added that there had also been "a series of related incidents at the hospital on Saturday morning when staff were physically assaulted and spat upon".

This disgraceful behaviour must stop immediately and be condemned by all, especially those who would have influence in the group to which these people claim to belong

Dr Ian Carson

"Our personnel are drawn from all sections of the community and they provide vital services for that community," Dr Carson said.

"It is intolerable that people purporting to have interests in patients receiving critical care, should subject staff to physical and verbal abuse and then threaten their lives.

"This disgraceful behaviour must stop immediately and be condemned by all, especially those who would have influence in the group to which these people claim to belong."

Dr Carson added that security videos from the hospital were being studied by the police.

He said the RUC were "quickly on the scene" following the incidents on Saturday.

The Health Minister, Bairbre de Brun, said it was disgraceful that people who serve all sections of the community were assaulted and threatened.

Previous threat

The threats followed another similar incident when staff at the Mater Hospital in north Belfast were threatened by loyalists in February.

After those threats, the province's health union held a series of public protests.

At the time, nationalist politicians said they believed the threat came from the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Figures from Northern Ireland's major hospitals showed there were 500 physical attacks on staff in 2000. There were many more occasions on which staff were verbally abused.

Many incidents happened in high pressure areas including casualty departments.