A total of 2,373 assaults against healthcare workers have been recorded so far this year, among them 23 sexual assaults.
While none of the reported incidents to date has been classified as “major,” more than 100 have been categorised as “moderate,” reports Breaking News.
Since 2015, the HSE has operated a National Incident Management System which requires all incidents to be reported through a national centralised system, the Irish Examiner reports.
The data, provided to Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane by the HSE, confirmed that as of 4 June, there had been 2,373 assaults against staff so far this year, reports Breaking News.
Of those 2,373 assaults, 23 have been classified as sexual assault while 585 were categorised as verbal assault.
Direct physical assaults accounted for nearly three-quarters of all incidents, with 1,765 recorded, reports Breaking News.
Some 2,064 of the incidents were classified as “negligible,” which the HSE defines as an “adverse event leading to minor injury not requiring first aid.”
There were 205 minor events, which resulted in a minor injury or illness requiring first aid treatment, a hospital stay of fewer than three days, or impaired psychosocial functioning for more than three days but less than one month, reports Breaking News.
A further 103 assaults were classified as “moderate.”
This category applies when there is a significant injury requiring medical treatment such as a fracture or counselling, the incident is reportable to the Health and Safety Authority, the worker is absent from work for more than three days, there is a hospital stay of between three and eight days, or there is impaired psychosocial functioning for more than one month but less than six, reports Breaking News.
There have been no incidents classified as major so far in 2026, nor were there any in 2025.
The major category can involve serious injuries including long-term incapacity or disability, such as the loss of a limb, reports Breaking News.
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