A case in which a pregnant nurse was kicked in the stomach was classed as a minor incident, an Auditor-General’s’ report has found.
The Auditor-General’s report into occupational violence found doctors and nurses faced unacceptable, and preventable, risks but staff were reluctant to report attacks because the process was cumbersome and they weren’t confident it would make any difference.
Other cases that were classed as “mild”, “near miss” or “no harm” included an attempted strangulation, a worker being punched, and sexually inappropriate conduct.
“How is it that these sorts of incidents can be assessed as only ‘mild’ or ‘no harm’? Obviously, this sort of categorising understates the risks involved,”‘ Auditor-General John Doyle said.
Under-reporting was rife because of complex complaints processes and reluctance among staff to report violence over fears management would not act, the report found.
Health workers also viewed the violence as ‘part of the job’ and did not want to report incidents involving patients with delirium or dementia who ‘couldn’t help it’.
The report found systemic failures across the health sector when it came to collecting and analysing data on violence against healthcare workers.
Victoria’s public health services, Ambulance Victoria, the Department of Health and Human Services and WorkSafe were audited for the report, which was tabled in parliament on Wednesday.
The report recommends a culture change so health workers are encouraged to report violence, and for health services to work on ways of preventing attacks on staff.
Mr Doyle also said he was about to start a new audit focusing on bullying in the healthcare sector, which will be published later this year.
It follows revelations of a “boys’ club” culture of bullying and harassment among surgeons, in which female surgeons were afraid of reporting inappropriate conduct for fear it would damage their careers.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons last week announced it had commissioned new research into existing complaints systems.