Avon and Somerset Police and Weston General Hospital team up to tackle anti-social behaviour

The hospital and the Police are working more closely to tackle anti-social behaviour and have recently introduced a “Requirement to Disperse” (Section 35), which gives the police the power to ask anyone causing a problem to leave the area for a certain period of time. If they do not obey the order, they may be arrested. 

This has been put in place at the hospital and will help Police to better protect patients, visitors and staff. 

Inspector Sharon Bennett, Weston Neighbourhood Manager, said; “We know that visiting a hospital, whether as a patient or a visitor, can be an emotional time, but there is never an excuse for aggressive or intimidating behaviour.

“We want everyone attending the hospital, whether for treatment, to work, or as a visitor, to feel safe doing so and we are clear that we will use all the powers available to us make sure that happens.

“No one should have to feel threatened or intimidated when at the hospital and this new Requirement to Disperse is an additional tool we can use to enable us to ensure everyone is, and feels safe.”

Bronwen Bishop, Director of Strategic Development at Weston Area Health NHS Trust, said:

“By working together the hospital Trust and Avon and Somerset Police can deliver a safer local community that ensures our patients, visitors and staff, are able to use our hospital to visit and to work without fear of violence or harm.

“By working even more closely with the Police to tackle anti-social behaviour we can make sure that we are providing the safest environment for staff to do their job and for our patients to be treated.

“Our working partnership is already providing evidence of success. We are sending out a very strong message that any incident of violence, aggression or harm by anyone towards staff, patients and visitors on Trust premises will not be tolerated.  In the future we will continue to focus on joint safety initiatives and we very much welcome working together with the Police to support our local community.”

If you're affected by anti-social behaviour, then please get in touch with us. You can either report it to a member of hospital staff or a police officer.

You can also report incidents via the website www.avonandsomerset.police.uk or call 101.  

Alternatively you can provide information anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

In an emergency – if someone is at risk of getting hurt or property is being damaged and the suspect is still in the area, always call 999.