Nurse 'left for dead'

St George's Hospital is reviewing security

An auxiliary nurse is recovering after being mugged and repeatedly stabbed in an attack at a London hospital.

Paul Trotman, 28, was returning from a break at around 2am at St George's Hospital Tooting, when he heard a woman scream for help.

As he went to find out what was wrong, he was hit over the head and was stabbed five times in the shoulders.

His credit cards were stolen and he was left for dead. Mr Trotman managed to call for help and was later treated in the hospital's accident and emergency department before being sent home.

"I was walking along a corridor on the ground floor that night when this woman called out to me for help. Naturally I went to see what was wrong, not dreaming that it might be a trap.

"I remember being hit over the head, then kicked and punched in the chest but I didn't realise I had been stabbed until I saw the blood," he told the Evening Standard newspaper.

He is now recovering at home and says he is not intending to return to work just yet.

"I love this hospital and count my colleagues as my closest friends, but at the moment I can't face going back," he said.

"Hospitals are not really safe places any more," he said.

Police are hunting for the woman and her accomplice who escaped immediately after the attack. They are searching CCTV footage taken in the A&E department that evening.

A camera near where the attack took place had not been wired up.

Hospitals are not really safe places any more

Paul Trotman

The incident, which took place two weeks ago, is the latest of a series of violent attacks on NHS staff this year.

Last year, the Government launched a major campaign against violence towards NHS staff. Ministers have pledged to reduced to the number of attacks on workers.

But campaigners have accused the government of failing to do enough.

A spokesman for the pressure group London Health Emergency told the newspaper: "London hospitals are becoming increasingly dangerous places for staff.

"It is clearly affecting recruitment and retention of staff and this case highlights the need for more ringfenced money for security measures."

A spokesman for St George's Hospital said it is reviewing security arrangements in light of the attack.