Childcare staff 'at high risk of attack'

CHILDCARE WORKERS in the health service are facing increasing levels of violence, the Impact conference was told yesterday.

Phil McFadden of the Dublin North health branch said one worker nearly had her eyes gouged out, another had her jaw broken while others had suffered broken limbs in attacks by children in their care.

He said HSE management needed to take the issue of assaults on workers much more seriously. He forecast that the issue could get worse with more children ending up in residential care as a result of family pressures caused by the economic downturn while staffing levels faced being reduced on foot of HSE cutbacks.

Mr McFadden said the HSE did not currently keep any statistics on incidents of workplace violence as this was a problem that management did not want to acknowledge.

“We live in a society where violence and the threat of violence is a constant reality. People working in the health sector see the effects of violence often enough.

“But, increasingly, they are being subjected to violence and their employer seems to think that this is okay because it comes with the territory,” he said.

Mr McFadden said he knew many members who had received very serious injuries due to violent assaults by clients.

Meanwhile, Mary Jane O’Brien of the Wicklow branch said social workers in the county had had a cap imposed on mileage and some staff had already reached their limit for the year. She said this had left some personnel with a choice of whether to travel at their own expense or leave a possibly at-risk child without a social worker visit.