00:01It was approaching midnight on a Sunday last month inside the emergency department at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital when an
00:11older woman was allegedly bashed by a fellow patient.
00:14A police spokesperson says a 43-year-old New Farm man allegedly punched a 73-year-old woman's face a
00:23number of times in an unprovoked attack.
00:25The woman sustained serious facial injuries during the incident.
00:30Medical staff intervened.
00:32The man was arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm.
00:36He's due in court next week.
00:38A hospital spokesperson said support was provided to the patient and staff who witnessed the incident.
00:45The safety of our staff, patients and visitors is our number one priority.
00:50And Metro South Health has invested more than $37 million to increase the number of security officers,
00:58implement additional CCTV and body-worn cameras and more.
01:03The college representing emergency doctors says violence in hospitals is hugely significant and under-reported.
01:11Whenever somebody gets punched on an aeroplane, it makes national news.
01:16Whenever someone gets punched in an emergency department, it's Friday.
01:19A national survey of ED directors found 90% had a violent incident in their unit within the past week.
01:27We want a razor-sharp focus on overcrowding.
01:31That's going to have the biggest impact.
01:32Nurses want a better reporting system and more funding for a de-escalation security program.
01:39I believe more can be done.
01:40When the nurses' union says that more needs to be done, the government should listen.
01:46We've invested in an extra 212 security officers throughout the state of Queensland.
01:51The bashing victim has since been discharged from hospital.
