Antrim ED: Body-worn cameras 'stopping attacks on hospital staff'

Body-worn cameras have proved so effective at tackling violence against hospital staff that one health trust is set to use them permanently. Several trusts have been trialling the measure, which sees cameras worn on the lapels of healthcare workers in emergency departments (EDs). These are only turned on if a patient or visitor becomes aggressive. Naomi Baldwin, assistant director of corporate nursing at the Northern Health Trust, said cameras helped to "de-escalate" tensions and had a "positive impact" on patients' behaviour. Northern Ireland's health minister is in favour of the cameras but said keeping them in force is ultimately up to individual trusts. Baldwin said several members of staff had spoken of being being faced with a patient becoming "agitated, verbally aggressive" whilst wearing the cameras. She said that once the patient was warned that the camera would be activated, staff noted a change in behaviour. There have been more than 72,000 physical and verbal attacks on health and social care staff throughout Northern Ireland in the last five years. Baldwin said ED workers "seem to be taking the brunt" of patient aggression and it had "reached a point where we can't go