Yvonne Ihekwoaba, a UK-based Nigerian nurse, has been punched hard in the stomach by a patient.
According to an article published by the Daily Mail UK on Monday, the punch forced Ihekwoaba to receive emergency treatment at the hospital where she worked.
Following the incident, the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, the National Health Service (NHS) Trust that controls the Queen’s Hospital and the King George Hospital in the United Kingdom (UK), is currently considering banning aggressive and violent patients from visiting hospitals and clinics for treatment.
As a result of the incident, the trust is considering banning aggressive patients and visitors from visiting its hospitals for up to 12 months.
The trust also introduced the wearing of body cameras by its employees in an effort to curb violence and aggression from patients after cases of physical violence in its hospitals doubled in three years.
As a result of the physical abuse Ihekwoaba suffered, she is now the face of the trust’s No Abuse, No Excuse scheme. The scheme was launched in a bid to reduce cases of physical abuse in the trust’s hospitals.
“My patient was verbally abusive when I offered him his medication. I tried to calm him down,” said Ihekwoaba.
“The next thing I knew, I was punched in my stomach and landed on the floor. I was in A&E for several hours.”
The organisation stated it planned on making it more straightforward for its staff to be able to “red card or ban” an abusive patient from its hospitals
“When it is clinically safe to do so”.
“Our staff should not be shouted at, hit, or subjected to racist abuse. It’s happening more and more often, and we are taking action to respond to their concerns,” said Matthew Trainer, chief executive of the trust.
“Our message couldn’t be simpler: No abuse, no excuse.”
