By Healthcare Facilities Today

Parking attendants at St John's Hospital - NHS Lothian in Livingston, Scotland, are wearimg CCTV cameras as part of a new trial to prevent violence and aggression, according to an article on the STV website.

The move was spurred by a rising number of incidents when attendants were  experiencing verbal and physical abuse from angry motorists as they try to free-up parking spaces for patients and keep emergency routes clear, according to the article.

One attendant was hit with a walking stick and another had a car driven at them during this recent spate of incidents, the article said.

“We have a zero-tolerance approach to violence and aggression in the workplace and a duty to protect our workforce," George Curley, director of operations-facilities at Lothian, said in the article.

NHS Lothian began employing attendants at St John's Hospital to help ensure that patients' car parks were used only by patients and not general visitors. According to the article, it was designed to help patients prevent missed appointments. Visitors to the hospital were then directed on to other car parks around the site.

If the attendant feels threatened in a particular situation, they simply turn on the camera which causes a light to appear and a warning that recording is in progress, the article said.

Read the article.