A patient sunk her teeth into a nurse’s head as the medic tried to protect a young student.
The nurse was working in the intensive psychiatric care unit at Inverclyde Hospital, Greenock when the attack happened on Monday.
It is understood the middle aged staff nurse was attacked by a female patient after the patient had already attacked a student nurse.
An insider said: “The student screamed and the staff nurse told her to stand back but then the staff nurse was pulled down, her face was scratched, her hair pulled and then she was bitten on the head.”
And the insider claimed: “Nurses are getting attacked more and more because there are not enough experienced staff on the ward.
“Wards are running below numbers and union reps have been complaining but all they do is bring in nurses from other wards who have not had proper violence reduction training.
“They pull in staff from all over the place, including bank nurses with little or no experience in a unit like this.
“We are working with some extremely dangerous patients in the mental health unit, the Langhill Clinic.
“I have been assaulted myself in the past. I got dragged by my hair by a patient and lost a clump of it.
“Staff are terrified but they are also terrified to speak out in fear of reprisals.
“They are just letting us rot. It is a terrible environment to work in.”
Eighteen months ago the Daily Record told how four members of staff in the hospitals psychiatric units were off sick after patient assaults.
One worker was understood to have a broken collarbone while others had injuries including bruised ribs.
Union officials said at the time bosses had been understaffing departments.
Unison officials said the situation at the hospital was so serious “staff and patients are at genuine risk of serious injury or long-term damage to their health and well-being”.
A spokesman from Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership said: “The safety of our staff is our priority. We have a strict zero tolerance stance towards violence and aggression against our staff who are entitled to work free of threats, assaults and intimidation.
“In incidences where a member of staff has been assaulted, we always provide appropriate support.
“Recruitment within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is managed via a robust year-round process, with candidates being sought locally and nationally, where appropriate.
“Our key focus is on the delivery of high-quality, safe and effective person centred care.
“We constantly keep our staffing levels under review and during every shift, we assess whether staffing levels are appropriate for patients’ needs. On occasions where clinical demand requires supplementary staffing, we may look to utilise locum, NHS Bank and other staff, when applicable.”
