Crackdown on violence in hospitals

Measures to improve the safety of patients and staff in accident and emergency departments were announced by the Government yesterday. New guidelines, sent to National Health Service trusts, cover matters from decor and lighting to the arrangement of furniture and positioning of alarms.

Baroness Jay (left) the Health minister, said the Government was keeping its promise to help reduce assaults on nurses, doctors, and other staff working in the NHS. "Hard-working and hard-pressed staff in the NHS are entitled to feel they can go about their daily work free from the threat of violence and intimidation. We want to help them to do so," she said.