An emergency summit to address the increasing levels of violence against frontline health staff across Western Australia has been hailed as a success by those in attendance.
Hosted by the state government on June 21, the Stop the Violence summit was convened by WA health minister Roger Cook after a push from the state's medical unions to break the cycle of rising aggression across WA's hospitals.
Statistics show there were 703 assaults on WA nurses alone in the second half of 2017, which jumped to 971 assaults during the same period in 2018 - a 38 per cent increase in incidents.
More than 110 health staff and industry stakeholders attended the event, including leaders and representatives from WA Police, St John Ambulance, the mental health, drug and alcohol sectors, as well as unions and health consumers, the health minister and director general of health.
They discussed a range of issues including current security measures, the powers of security officers, public education, and other key priority areas to identify strategies and make recommendations for action.
Mr Cook said the summit brought together expert opinion and experience to "galvanise further action".
"Assaulting health staff is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I am appalled by the rise in acts of violence and aggression, people who behave like this are not welcome in our public hospitals," he said.
"Violence against health staff has wide-ranging consequences which impact the psychological and physical wellbeing of staff, patients and visitors and, in some instances, puts healthcare provision at risk.
"The frontline staff who work in our public hospitals perform a vital role, they do an incredible job and should be treated with the utmost respect.
"Any act of violence against staff who are there to care for people is disgraceful.
"WA hospitals are already working hard to support and protect staff from violent and aggressive behaviour but we know that more needs to be done."
Australian Medical Association WA (AMA WA) emergency medicine spokesman Dr David Mountain said it was essential the government delivered on their promise of "urgent action".
"At the end of that day, they didn't agree to very much implementation but they did promise to come back soon with consultation and plans for what they were going to do - and said it was a high priority for them," he said.
"They need to follow up and start to formulate plans and make sure that they put resources in to ensure these issues are dealt with.
"If people don't think it's been dealt with responsibly and we don't end up with meaningful change or responses and proper engagement, then I think will leave people even more disillusioned with the system than they already are."
Health Service Union of Western Australia (HSUWA) assistant secretary Chris Panizza said the summit was a unique and rewarding opportunity for stakeholders to voice their opinions.
He also added that the union looked forward to "further action, as promised".
"The summit was a success in that it accomplished what it set out to do and gave our members in attendance the opportunity to provide input and be heard," he said.
"The HSUWA will continue to campaign for the security, safety and welfare of our members, by working with the government to ensure it delivers on the key outcomes of the summit and to ensure that all of the issues we have raised are addressed."
