The South Australian Government has announced plans to extend laws that punish assaults on paramedics or health workers more severely to other areas of the state’s public hospitals.

 

Under the current laws, which were introduced in 2009, assaulting a paramedic or health worker in an Emergency Department has been treated as aggravated offence, which carries more severe punishment by the courts.

 

“I will consult with the Attorney General on whether this can be extended to the inpatient areas of our public hospitals, giving staff the additional protection of this more serious offence,” State Minister for Health and Ageing John Hill said.

 

“As soon as a potentially challenging situation arises, staff can call a code black, bringing in security and other staff to support them and wherever possible avoid aggression escalating into violence.

 

“Analysis of incidents in our public hospitals shows that most do not involve an intention to harm and that contributing factors include: drugs, alcohol, age-related issues like confusion and dementia, mental health issues and other health conditions such as head injuries.

 

“In the past year, there’s been an increase of around 4 percent in the number of code blacks called in EDs and around 10 percent for code blacks in the other areas of our major metropolitan hospitals.”