Nurses 'abused over care report'

Nurses at Stafford Hospital are being verbally abused by patients in the light of a damning hospital care-standards report, it is claimed.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said some nurses had reported a rise in the abuse they faced at work last month.

The complaints were made as a health watchdog published the report revealing "appalling" care and abnormal death rates at the hospital

The hospital's foundation trust said it took staff abuse claims "seriously".

Patricia Marquis, of the RCN, said she thought the rise in abuse was linked to the bad publicity received by the hospital, where there were up to 400 more patient deaths than would normally be expected.

Family protests

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust said staff had reported 14 incidents of verbal abuse or aggression by visitors or patients since the report was published on 17 March.

It said only five cases were reported at the hospital for the same period last year.

Ms Marquis, RCN West Midlands regional director, said: "Lots of my team have been around the site over the last few weeks and a number of nurses have mentioned to us that they have received more aggression and verbal confrontation than they did before."

She said in the days immediately after the Healthcare Commission published its report relatives had lined the entrance to the hospital in protest, and added: "it was upsetting for [the nurses] to be walking through that whilst they went to work."

Ms Marquis said the RCN did not condone poor nursing care, but understood the commission's severe criticisms had upset people, in particular the deceased patients' families.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust said it took reports of abuse on its staff very seriously and had "noticed a slight increase in this type of behaviour since the Healthcare Commission report".