Security, criminal charges, accountability: B.C. health-care workers demand response to violence

An assault on a Langley nurse is the latest example of on-the-job violence against health-care workers – who say more needs to be done to keep them safe.

Frustrated health-care professionals are urging policy makers to respond to increasing workplace violence faced by British Columbia’s health-care workers, or face the prospect of even more people leaving the profession.

Anecdotally the unions for B.C. nurses and paramedics describe increasing assault reports in recent years, while the Doctors of BC say their members are facing more and more patients enraged at long waits for care: threats, shoving, and dangerous weapons have all been reported to supervisors and police.

However, criminal charges against those accused of attacking health-care workers are rare.

The BC Prosecution Service couldn’t easily provide statistics for alleged crimes against medical personnel or in medical settings since they don’t categorize those cases like they do for assaults on police, which carries a specific charge under the Canadian criminal code.

WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE FRONT LINE

This week, Mounties announced they’d be recommending charges of assault and assault with a weapon against a man who brandished a knife and assaulted a nurse at Langley Memorial Hospital earlier this month, but that’s not the only case the union has heard of.

“There was a nurse the other night at another facility that was actually choked unconscious,” said BCNU president, Adriane Gear. “What the media is reporting on, I would say, is a fraction of what’s actually taking place.”

The president of the Doctors of BC says physicians and their staff are shoved and hit in primary care offices, maternity clinics, and especially emergency departments.

“We definitely need a zero tolerance policy in place, and we need more security, particularly in our hospitals,” insisted Dr. Charlene Lui.

Even outside bricks-and-mortar medical settings, care providers often face abuse.

“Inappropriate comments, touching, unwanted advances and even assaults in the back of the ambulance,” said Ambulance Paramedics of BC spokesperson, Ian Tait. “There needs to be accountability in the system where we say very loud and clear that this is just not acceptable.”

CALLS FOR CONSEQUENCES

In 2019, WorkSafeBC allowed 1,159 claims for violence against health-care workers – the vast majority of who are nurses and exclude doctors. In 2023, that number had risen to 1,251 off the job due to workplace violence.

CTV News asked the attorney general’s office why there were so few charges against suspected assailants when there’s an increase in reported conflicts and assaults.

“An assault on a health worker is a serious criminal offence, and decisions regarding charges are made independently by Crown counsel,” wrote Niki Sharma in an email statement.

“Our government has taken action to improve safety in health-care settings, and when incidents do occur, we encourage all healthcare workers to report acts of violence so they can be properly addressed.”

The ministry of health added that their “relational security officer” program, which replaced contracted private security at hospitals with health authority personnel, has grown from it’s initial target of 320 net new staff, and that they want anyone who’s experienced violence on the job to report it.

Numerous frontline hospital workers have told CTV News they’ve seen no noticeable increase in security staff in the past two years, with doctors and paramedics forced to break up fights or protect staff and patients alike from attackers.

“What are we doing to protect health-care workers? I would say we’re not doing enough,” said Gear. “If it is not safe for health-care workers to do their job, it’s actually not safe for the patients either.”