Staff at Waitemata DHB, including workers at North Shore Hospital, are increasingly reporting abuse from patients and visitors. Abusive incidents involving staff at Auckland’s Waitemata District Health Board are on the rise. The DHB reported 169 health and safety incidents causing harm to staff, across its services in June, of which 36 were physical assaults. It is the highest number of events in a single month recorded for the 24 months prior, equal to the number reported in September last year. The incidents included 33 body assaults and 19 general verbal assaults, 17 slips, trips or falls, and eight which were the result of unsafe practices or procedures. There was one incident of assault with a hand-held weapon, two assaults with a projectile, one incident of bullying or harassment, and three verbal assaults labelled threats.
