Lone worker guidance

The leaflet: You're not alone - the RCN campaigning to protect lone workers (PDF 160.7KB) [How to access PDF files] provides advice to help keep lone working nurses safer.

Up to 100, 000 health care professionals are working on their own in the NHS every day. More than half of those taking part in an RCN survey said they thought the risk of violence or abuse had risen over the last two years.

"I was assaulted and subjected to high levels of aggression and threats to kill us on a home visit with a social worker. The social worker sustained a serious injury and we were both traumatised for months" said one district nurse working in the North East of England.

Now the RCN is calling upon employers to comply with their legal duty to protect nurses, by implementing a five-point plan of action covering:

  • risk assessments
  • prevention
  • policy
  • training
  • support from the employer.

It is essential that employers support staff and the RCN believes that employers should:

  • Provide information to help health care professionals assess risks and ensure safety.
  • Invest in mobile devices that help nurses to call discretely for help.
  • Provide a clear policy for lone workers.
  • Provide training, for example, on conflict management.
  • Take action to put preventive measures in place as well as creating systems that provide immediate support in the event of violence.

By ensuring these are in place demonstrates a clear commitment to protecting nurses in their working lives, which benefits patients too.

The RCN's 'You're Not Alone' campaign led to the Government announcing funding to improve the protection of NHS lone workers.  In May 2009 the Department of Health announced the roll out of 30,000 lone worker alarms for NHS workers in England.  The contract to provide the alarms and associated support was awarded to Reliance SoloProtect using the i750 identicom device.  The devices are part funded by the Department of Health (2 years of a 3 year contract). 

30,000 devices were issued in England and the NHS in Wales is also rolling out a lone worker system.  However there are still a significant number of members without such protection.  The contract for lone worker alarms can still be accessed by NHS trusts in England although central funding is no longer available.  The RCN wants all nurses who work alone in the community to have access to lone worker alarm devices.

Further information on the lone worker pages of the NHS Security Management Service's website at http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/SecurityManagement.aspx