Partnership to tackle violence at Northumberland hospital recognised through prestigious award

A partnership established between the security team at Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management and Northumbria Police has received recognition through winning a national award.

The Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management security team won the Violence Prevention and Reduction Initiative award at the National Association of Healthcare Security Awards.

As an initiative to prevent and reduce the levels of violence at the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington, a partnership between the hospitals security team and Northumbria Police was established in October 2020.

As part of the partnership, a police officer is on-site at the hospital at evenings and overnight to provide greater reassurance to patients, visitors and staff. The officer works alongside the trust’s security team to provide a visible deterrent for aggressive behaviour and assist should incidents occur.

Other initiatives that have been introduced due to the partnership include:

• A monthly meeting between the security team and Northumbria Police to share knowledge and address any concerns
• A training package where a police team taught the security team skills such as de-escalation techniques and basics in law

The Northumbria Hospital opened in 2015 and deals mainly with emergencies and life-saving procedures. Many incidents reported at the hospital relate to violence against staff members and/or other patients and visitors within the hospital.

Since the establishment of the partnership there has been a significant drop in the calls made to request police assistance at the site with a 75% reduction. The number of restraints carried out by the security team has fallen, this has improved safety of physical and mental health for the security officers and the patients themselves.

As well as improving staff and patient safety, the impact of the partnership can also be seen in employee retention figures. In 2019 prior to the partnership being in place, the average turnover rate in the security team was 20%, to date in 2024 this figure is now at 3.7%.

A security officer in the team said: “I enjoy working alongside Northumbria Police. Their presence helps keep things calm and knowing we have someone there to intervene if needs be makes me feel more comfortable when responding to incidents.”

Chris Campbell, soft services manager at Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management said; “We’re delighted that the partnership has won this prestigious award. Over the last four years, our security team has worked collaboratively with Northumbria Police to improve patient and staff safety, and we’re thrilled to see the improvements made at the Northumbria Hospital.

“We are particularly pleased to see that our employee turnover rate has improved since establishing the partnership, it is reassuring to know that our staff feel safe when delivering care to our patients and visitors.”

Inspector Jonathan Caisley, of Northumbria Police’s Cramlington Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), said: “It is fantastic to see the hard work of our officers and partners at the foundation trust has been recognised in this way.

“We are absolutely committed to supporting our NHS colleagues in keeping NSECH a safe and welcoming place to attend and the fall in the number of reports to us requesting assistance in recent years shows that our relationship is having a positive effect.