More than 1000 hospital support workers would be trained to protect themselves from violent and aggressive patients under a re-elected Labor government.
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Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jill Hennessy were at the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg on Tuesday morning to announce $3.45 million in funding to train non-clinical health workers in avoiding violence and aggression and to give them new job skills.
Labor says 1000 staff, including ward clerks, front-of-house staff in emergency rooms and allied health workers will be sent on three-day training courses to learn how to protect themselves and others.
The safety of health workers has been in the spotlight since the death of surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann after an alleged assault at Box Hill Hospital in 2017 and the controversy surrounding the sentencing of two women convicted of a vicious attack on a paramedic the previous year in Reservoir.
Labor says it has already spent $40 million training about 40,000 frontline health workers in coping with people affected by ice, improving safety at hospitals, new security guards and a public awareness and advertising campaign.
Labor’s announcement on Tuesday included $1.25 million for a two-year pilot scheme of 100 scholarships to hospital cooks, cleaners, orderlies, security guards, administrative workers and others to re-train for other jobs in the health sector.
Mr Andrews said training in handling aggression and violence would not just be confined to clinical workers.
"We know that health envronments can be very challenging, some patients and others who visit hospitals can exhibit very challenging behaviours," Mr Andrews said.
"We want to make sure that every member of the team ... those dealing with patients and family, visitors, that they have the skills to keep themselves safe."