Security guards stabbed, nurse injured at Westmead hospital

The boss of the Health Services Union has called for greater powers and defensive weapons for hospital security guards after two were stabbed and a nurse injured at Westmead Hospital.

The boss of the Health Services Union has called for greater powers and defensive weapons for hospital security guards after two were stabbed and a nurse injured at Westmead Hospital.

Police were called to the hospital about 11.30pm on Friday after a 39-year-old mentally ill patient at the hospital allegedly assaulted a nurse and attacked three guards.
Two male security guards, aged 25 and 26, were stabbed, suffering lacerations to the wrist and neck. A third male security guard suffered a dislocated shoulder.

The 29-year-old male nurse also sustained minor injuries during the incident.

The alleged attacker remained in hospital under police guard for some time before he was arrested and taken to Parramatta Police Station. He was charged with five offences and will face court on Sunday.

The man remains under police guard at the hospital this morning. Picture: Tom Parrish

HSU boss Gerard Hayes said the incident was one that was seen too often in hospitals and that changes needed to be made for the protection of hospital staff.

He said hospital security had no legal power to be able to physically defend hospital staff in these types of incidents and called for them to be armed with defensive equipment. “In the mental health act they can put hands on people under direction of a clinician … but they have no power to retain or restrain them,” Mr Hayes said.

A 29-year-old male nurse also sustained minor injuries during the incident. Picture: Tom Parrish

“In the general area, it has got to be a citizen’s arrest,” he said. “At them moment they could get sued.

“They are in this grey zone where if a nurse is getting bashed they are legally restrained with what they can do about it,” he said.

Mr Hayes said security should be able to carry capsicum spray, battens or wear protective vests to deal with similar situations.

He said it would not be ideal to have security “running around looking like police” but that it was a preferred alternative to the incident that occurred at Westmead Hospital.

The union boss said the government had been slow to adopt the recommendations of a 2019 review into hospital security.

“They are all talk and nothing eventuates,” he said. “Meanwhile, the carnage continues.”

“This senseless violence is horrifying. For the workers on the receiving end, the trauma will continue long after the physical scars have healed.

“For the last decade we have had shootings, stabbings and flesh torn from the bodies of our members.

“We have argued consistently for greater security numbers and powers, and will continue to push for this and better personal protective equipment.

“It is frustrating and mystifying that so many of the recommendations of the Anderson Inquiry into hospital security are yet to be implemented.”
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