Healthcare institutions still lack sufficient measures to combat aggression, according to the Inspectorate SZW. A 20% increase in one year has resulted in more employee injuries and increased liability for healthcare institutions as employers.
Aggression in healthcare institutions increased by 20%
Although the workload within healthcare institutions appears to have decreased, there has unfortunately been an increase in the number of violent incidents over the past year.
In 2012, the Inspectorate for Social Services (SWZ) found violations related to aggression at 40% of healthcare institutions. For the period from April 2013 to February 2014, this figure rose to 60%. A 20% increase within a year.
Personal injury due to aggression in healthcare institutions
At our firm, we frequently encounter employees who have suffered injuries due to aggressive patient behavior. Over the years, it has even become one of our (many) specializations.
Employees typically sustain head injuries, brain injuries, neck injuries (whiplash), or back injuries as a result of an aggressive incident. We also frequently see broken bones and burns.
Almost always, employees sustain relatively serious injuries and become permanently disabled. Most employees hold their employers liable if there is absolutely no other option – financially speaking.
Because almost all the employees we assist—and there are quite a few—love their work, their patients, and—despite all sorts of reorganizations—their employer as well. Employees of healthcare institutions often have no desire whatsoever to hold their employer liable or accuse their patients of aggression.
Employees also often downplay the patients' behavior, the lack of adequate training, and the lack of sufficient safety measures and sufficiently skilled colleagues. This is often due to a love for the patients, their profession, or the fact that they don't have a permanent contract and therefore run employment law risks. Understandable, but when we probe further, it almost always turns out – legally speaking – that things are not quite right.
Holding one's own employer liable for personal injury due to aggression from patients is therefore something that a healthcare employee finds very difficult and would prefer to avoid.
The report of the SWZ Inspectorate
As a specialized personal injury law firm, we, the Inspectorate for Social Services (SWZ), are very familiar with the contents of the report. It reveals a 20% increase in aggressive incidents in healthcare institutions in one year. Some of the SWZ Inspectorate's conclusions:
- More than 70% of healthcare institutions do not take sufficient measures against the risks of aggression.
- In 30% of the inspected healthcare institutions, information and training on aggression is inadequate.
- 20% of the inspected healthcare institutions lack a proper risk assessment, incident analysis and evaluation.
- More than 30% of healthcare institutions pay insufficient attention to working conditions in general and lack essential elements of the occupational health and safety system, including a Risk Inventory and Evaluation (RI&E).
Number of incidents of aggression recorded
The SWZ Inspectorate recorded a total of 1,885 violations between April 1, 2013, and February 1, 2014. Of these, 1,120 involved aggression. This means that almost 60% of all violations involved aggression and violence.
Inspection results aggression
- Last year, there were several serious incidents involving aggression in the healthcare and welfare sector. The number of institutions with an aggression violation rose from approximately 40% in 2012 to 60% in 2013.
- This negative trend is most visible in nursing, personal care, and home care. There, the percentage rose from approximately 35% in 2012 to 65% in 2013. The main reason is that the policies and measures for aggression do not reflect everyday reality.
- Institutions that have an RI&E inventory do not always adjust it when changes occur.
- When one starts providing care to a patient, a proper assessment of the occupational health and safety risks is often lacking.
- Furthermore, an evaluation is often lacking, which means that the bottlenecks that have arisen (due to changes in the organisation of healthcare) are not sufficiently visible.
- An important point of attention during the inspection for aggression is information and training.
- On the one hand, the attention paid to aggression among employees is declining due to the lack of recurring information on this subject in the institutions.
- On the other hand, the Inspectorate is increasingly seeing staff being deployed who have not received information or training in dealing with aggression. Lower-skilled or temporary staff, such as volunteers, agency workers, employees from a "job pool," or substitutes, are being used for some of the care tasks.
- The institution is obligated to provide them with proper information and sufficient training in dealing with aggression. This must not be postponed or neglected. Instead, institutions must anticipate this by offering employees the necessary training and education in a timely manner.
- Finally, the inspections reveal that there is still little attention paid to reporting practices and incident analysis. Incident analysis often remains superficial, preventing the identification of underlying causes, such as a lack of training and insufficiently qualified personnel.
Employee organizations' response to the report
The employee organizations indicate that the institutions are working on the action plan for workload, but that the members themselves are not experiencing any improvement in their workload.
They also confirm the SZW Inspectorate's assessment that changes, reorganizations, and budget cuts in healthcare have increased the burden of care, leading to increased workload and aggression. Employees are particularly at risk if institutions fail to implement adequate personnel and organizational measures to manage workload and aggression. They also call for increased attention to the increased workload caused by flexible working.
Conclusion
What the SWZ Inspectorate outlines in its report corresponds with what we observe within our office in the area of personal injury suffered by employees of healthcare institutions.
Almost always, there appears to be a legal flaw in the way the employer (the healthcare institution) has organized the work. And, under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code, the employer is formally legally liable for the personal injury suffered by its employee
Hardworking and certainly not overpaid, motivated employees with a passion for their work and patients are still too often the victims of aggression, often resulting in lasting physical, psychological, and financial consequences. Recovering personal injury damages is then a necessity for them. But given the complexity of this, it's not easy for an employee to do this themselves.
If you would like to know more about personal injury caused by patient aggression and possible legal assistance in this regard, you can find our dedicated webpage on this subject here
This blog is based on the report by the Inspectorate SWZ, “Running & Standing Still Under Work Pressure,” and our own experiences within our personal injury practice.
What customers ask
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When can I claim personal injury damages?
You can claim damages for personal injury if you have suffered an injury (been injured) due to the fault of another person
Personal injury can be caused by, for example:
In addition, you may think of injuries sustained during:
- organized trip
- unsafe product or
- fall at someone else's home, in a shop or on the street
It's best not to wait too long to file a personal injury claim. It's best to do so immediately after the accident.
Even if it is not yet clear at that time what your injury and its financial consequences consist of.
However, someone else must liable and must have taken out liability insurance for this (AVP/AVB/WA).
However, even if you caused the accident yourself, you can sometimes still claim compensation for personal injury. For example, if you SVI (Passenger Injury Insurance) or SVO (Opzittende Inschadende).
Are you unsure whether and when you are entitled to personal injury compensation?
Don't hesitate to contact us now for a free, no-obligation consultation. It's free , and you'll know exactly where you stand. Afterward, you can decide for yourself what to do with our advice.
What injuries do you treat?
We can actually help you with all types of personal injury
Van der Toorn Personal Injury can help you with all types of injuries. We specialize in handling "serious personal injuries," such as:
- brain injury (ABI)
- spinal cord injury
- burns
- dystrophy
- bone fractures and
- cosmetic injury.
But of course, we are also very happy to be there for you if someone else has sustained an injury. Such as neck injuries, whiplash, back injuries, bruises, sprains, dog bites, temporary injuries, and you name it.
We cannot help with all types of personal injury
The only thing we cannot help you with is personal injury caused by:
- violence
- medical errors and/or
- situations of abuse.
In that situation, we will of course refer you to a party that is specialized in this.
Always request free, no-obligation advice on personal injury claims
Do you have questions about your personal injury? Or are you unsure if we're the right place for you?
Please do not hesitate to ask us for a complete and free, no-obligation personal injury claim consultation.
When should I contact you?
You don't have to! But it's in your best interest to contact us as soon as possible
Only then can you be certain that there is someone who thinks solely of your interests . Because that is our job: thinking of *your* interests.
But what is: as quickly as possible?
Sometimes an insurance company will contact you very shortly after the accident. They'll ask how you're doing and also ask for all sorts of other information.
You cannot know whether that insurer is asking “too many questions” from a legal perspective. About your health before the accident and which doctors you visited. You would rather avoid that, wouldn't you? So never wait too long to engage a personal injury firm.
It's also likely that you'll quickly incur significant expenses . Or your incomemay disappear. We'll handle the initial damage payments from the other party. Then you can focus on your recovery.
Would you like to know what's best for you? Don't hesitate to contact us , without obligation
We'll give you clear advice right away . Then you can decide for yourself what to do with it.
If we think we can help you, we will let you know right away.
At the same time, we guarantee that our legal assistance completely free of charge .
To learn more about our FREE personal injury assistance services, click here.
What personal injury compensation amounts am I entitled to?
The personal injury compensation amounts you are entitled to are:
Allowances for additional assistance, such as:
- household help, shopping, taking children to school, etc.
- help in the garden and
- help with the maintenance and painting of your home.
In addition, your personal injury may have consequences for your income, such as:
- income that is not fully paid (self-employed person, temporary worker, zero-hour contract, etc.)
- no more irregular hours allowance
- no longer being able to work overtime
- missed promotions and
- missed pension accrual
Finally, you can consider other equally important personal injury compensation amounts, such as:
- Study delay
- Reintegration costs for guidance to other work
- Costs associated with admission to a hospital or rehabilitation center
- Travel expenses
- Medical expenses
- Non-pecuniary damages
- Economic vulnerability
- Statutory interest
- Furthermore, all costs that you would not have incurred without the accident…
- For example, the wages you did not receive because you could not go to work.
- Gasoline because you had to go to the hospital or the physiotherapist.
- Medicines that were covered by your deductible.
In addition, you are always entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, also known as non-material damages.
This is compensation for "loss of enjoyment of life." Your damages should compensate you for your grief, pain, and anything else that might have made you less happy than before the accident.
Unfortunately, Dutch law is not generous in awarding damages for pain and suffering. Therefore, the amounts awarded in the Netherlands are not considered "fair enough.".
If you'd like to learn more about non-pecuniary damages, click here. If you'd like to learn more about personal injury damages, click here.
Calculating non-pecuniary damages
Calculating non-pecuniary damages:
You are always entitled to compensation for pain and suffering. This is the "non-pecuniary component" of your personal injury compensation.
What is non-pecuniary damages?
Pain and suffering compensation is not in itself a “hard legal term”. It is compensation for damage that cannot be expressed in monetary terms.
So, everything that doesn't fall under additional costs or lost income. It's essentially compensation for your "mental damage.".
How to calculate non-pecuniary damages
People often ask us at the very beginning of their personal injury case how much compensation they are entitled to.
That question is actually impossible to answer. And any personal injury lawyer who claims otherwise is mistaken.
When can you calculate my non-pecuniary damages?
Your compensation for pain and suffering can only be definitively determined at the end of your personal injury case.
Only then will it be known what psychological consequences your injury has had and/or will have for you.
Because it is the psychological consequences that largely determine your compensation for non-pecuniary damages.
Important factors in calculating non-pecuniary damages
Important factors for calculating your non-pecuniary damages include:
- the nature of your injury
- the severity of your injury
- your age
- your gender
- your level of consciousness
- whether you will have permanent scars and where those scars are located
- whether you have physical limitations that affect your quality of life
- how much pain have you suffered and continue to suffer
- how long your recovery period was and
- whether you have recovered at all or whether there is permanent damage.
Indication calculation of non-pecuniary damages:
We cannot predict exactly how much your compensation for non-pecuniary damages will be.
What we can do is give you a general indication of the amount of your compensation for pain and suffering.
If this sounds appealing, contact us today for a free, honest consultation. Afterward, you can decide for yourself what to do with it.
We are happy to help you calculate and claim your compensation for pain and suffering and other personal injury damages, such as your additional costs and lost income.
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Calculating non-pecuniary damages? Ask for advice! We're happy to help. Want to know more about calculating non-pecuniary damages? Click here.
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