Poll: Should there be minimum sentences for anyone convicted of assaulting hospital staff?

FIANNA FÁIL’S HEALTH spokesperson Stephen Donnelly has said that there should be minimum sentences for anyone convicted of assaulting hospital staff and frontline emergency workers.

It follows a story published on TheJournal.ie yesterday outlining that there were over 1,000 incidents reported last year where a member of staff had been assaulted.

In the majority of cases, it involved a nurse being assaulted.

Donnelly said in a statement: “This is another symptom of an overburdened, overcrowded and understaffed hospital system. We need tougher legislation to protect our frontline emergency and hospital staff against attacks in the course of their work.”

So, what do you think? Should there be minimum sentences for anyone convicted of assaulting hospital staff?