CPD & E-LEARNING
new offence of causing a nuisance or distur- bance on NHS premises. A person commits an offence if they satisfy all of the follow- ing: a) the person causes, without reason- able excuse and while on NHS premises, a nuisance or disturbance to an NHS staff member who is working there or is other- wise there in connection with their work, and b) the person refuses, without reason- able excuse, to leave the NHS premises when asked to do so by a police constable or an NHS staff member, and c) the person is not on the NHS premises for the purpose of obtaining medical advice, treatment or care for himself or herself.
Section 120 gives police constables, au- thorised officers (and appropriate NHS staff members authorised by an author- ised officer) the power to remove a person reasonably suspected of committing an of- fence under Section 119. A person may be removed using reasonable force if neces- sary. An authorised officer cannot remove a person (or authorise another person to do so) if they believe a person requires medical advice, treatment or care, or that removal would endanger their physical or mental health.
These provisions were introduced to enable NHS staff to deal with incidents of low-level aggression before they escalate to some- thing more serious. Until the CJIA was introduced, there was no safe legal frame- work to deal with such circumstances.
Other legislative tools, such as civil tres- pass, do not really apply to NHS premises. The nature of a NHS site, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, makes it difficult to mark the exact moment when a person starts trespassing, which leads to uncertainty as to whether they can be eject- ed. In addition, common law powers do not provide for necessary safeguards such as proper recording procedures. Nor do they allow for the important concept of ‘rea- sonable excuse’ for aggressive behaviour, which must be taken account of during the decision-making process about whether a person can or cannot be removed.
CJIA provisions place the matter of remov- als within a safer legal framework, enabling NHS trusts to deal with incidents without necessarily relying on the police (provided they do not escalate into assaults).
NHS Protect has produced and delivered practical, high-quality training packages to ensure NHS staff can translate the policies into a dynamic process which enables them to deal with CJIA incidents as they occur. These include the Authorised Officer train- ing course (for those formally responsible
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
NHS Protect will offer free training until March 2012. This can be provided at your trust’s premises: contact Mike McSherry on 0207 895 4574 or michael.
mcsherry_temp@nhsprotect.gsi.gov.uk
NHS Protect also offers CJIA training needs assessments. Training can also be provided at our training centre in Coventry, or at a convenient venue in your region. The remaining scheduled dates are below:
Authorised Officer (AO) and Familiarisation (Fam Sem) train the trainer courses in Coventry (attendees need to book the first three days for AO course only, all five days for Fam Sem.) are on:
5-9 December, 16-20 January, 13-17 February and 12-16 March
for making the decision of whether the per- son can or cannot be removed), and a sepa- rate course for the NHS Appropriate Staff members (for those who actually carry out the removals). A Familiarisation Seminar is available for those trusts who wish to use their in-house trainers to cascade CJIA to their members of staff.
The decision about whom to appoint to undertake the CJIA functions lies entirely with NHS trusts. But the nature of the Au- thorised Officer’s role lends itself to a per- son with a clinical background, given they must make an assessment to spot whether mental health or learning disability issues could lie behind the nuisance or distur- bance behaviour.
Through an innovative partnership with the Mental Health Foundation, NHS Protect also provides a half-day session to explore how mental health impacts the CJIA deci- sion making process. The session is avail- able for CJIA staff who wish to undertake it.
CJIA funding is coming to an end in March 2012 and NHS Protect strongly encourages trusts to train their members of staff.
NHS Protect’s Iain Henderson, who de- veloped the CJIA training materials, says: “Even if the decision hasn’t yet been made whether to implement CJIA or not, I recom- mend attending the training as it helps to make that a more informed decision. Trusts that have attended have realised how easy it is to implement and that there may be no onerous difference to what they do already apart from putting their procedures on a firm legal footing. Even if they then decide not to fully implement the powers they can still pick up areas of best practice.”
CJIA trainers are available to visit trusts and
discuss training requirements and identify the best way for the training to be delivered amid any difficulties with releasing staff.
Case study
An acute general teaching hospital in north London, the Whittington Hospital,
has
led the way in successfully implementing CJIA. The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust serves the communities of North Islington and West Haringey – a population of some 250,000. The trust operates a core of 16 se- curity staff to ensure a four-person team is on site 24/7. All these staff have completed NHS Protect’s CJIA training, delivered on site, to become authorised officers – ena- bling them to make the decision to remove someone as well as to actually remove them.
Peter Brown, Local Security Management Specialist at the Whittington Hospital, has recently assisted in piloting the CJIA re- fresher courses, for those seeking further training before funding ceases in March.
Discussing why his trust has been so keen on using CJIA, he said: “There’s a massive range of people who may, for whatever rea- son, behave in an abusive manner while on trust premises. The powers introduced by the CJIA have the potential to be use- ful in almost all cases of low-level nuisance behaviour – partly because of the way the legislation is worded. Behaviour that ‘caus- es a nuisance or disturbance to NHS staff’ covers a huge range of scenarios – from the disruption caused directly by an individ- ual who is being abusive, to the nuisance caused as a result of this behaviour, for example if a member of security staff has to be taken away from their duties in the control room, or a cleaner has to leave their work to call security in the first place.
“It also covers the disruption of having to repeatedly remove the same individual from the premises – someone habitually using the hospital as a shelter when they are not seeking medical care, for example.”
Brown thinks the introduction of CJIA has been positive overall and the powers can be used with a light touch: “Initially we simply tell someone that their behaviour is unac- ceptable and they are no longer welcome on the site as a result. Only if they fail to re- spond to this do we go on to explain that we have legal powers to remove them.”
Ivana Bartoletti
FOR MORE INFORMATION E:
ivana.bartoletti@
nhsprotect.gsi.gov.uk
national health executive Nov/Dec 11 | 59
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