Meeting over threat to hospital staff

Staff at Royal Hospital in Belfast were threatened

Union representatives are due to meet staff from a Belfast hospital's casualty department following an attack on workers there at the weekend.

Loyalist paramilitaries have been blamed for the incident at the Royal Victoria Hospital in which staff were beaten and threatened.

The health union Unison, has called for extra security at the hospital.

On Sunday, the management of the hospital condemned death threats made against its staff.

Patricia McKeown: Frightening attack

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

Patricia McKeown, from Unison, said it was a frightening attack.

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.

"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."

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

Meanwhile, the President of the Methodist Church, the Reverend Harold Good, said any such treatment of vulnerable hospital personnel was "unacceptable, but when coming from those who claim to be acting on behalf of a paramilitary organisation, it is even more sinister".

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.