The NHS Security Management Service: an alternative view from within...

I would also wish to clarify some of the points Nick raises in his article.

There is a wealth of both security and NHS experience within the SMS. This is supported by our policy of ongoing consultation with key stakeholders, of which the NHS is one. The NHS SMS hosts a quarterly meeting with the National Association for Healthcare Security’s (NAHS) Executive to share information and look at ways in which the NHS’ own security agenda can be improved in the most effective manner.

In addition, we meet with an extensive range of stakeholders at our Strategy Implementation Group for the exact same purpose.

Members of the operational team of Area Security Management Specialists (ASMS) meet and speak on a daily basis with the Local Security Management Specialists (LSMS) and the directors of security management within NHS Trusts, and have been very successful in both promoting the security agenda and securing support for the SMS’ strategy concerning the nomination of LSMS.

Currently, there are 565 nominated security management directors and 354 nominated (and accredited) LSMS.

The accredited training programme for LSMS was developed with extensive input from the membership of the NAHS. Indeed, a member of the NAHS Executive was employed as a training officer to assist in its production. That training is designed to meet the needs of newly-nominated LSMS who come from a wide range of health bodies and disciplines across the NHS (including mental health and learning disabilities and the ambulance service).

To limit the abstraction of staff from their Trust and minimise the financial burden, the length of the course is kept to a minimum – and it may be the case that some topics are not covered in as much depth as others. However, regional LSMS meetings provide the ideal platform for ongoing training to support LSMS in their Continuing Professional Development.

As is the case with any new training programme, feedback and experience provide the opportunity for it to evolve. In light of feedback from both NAHS members and other attendees, the programme has witnessed a natural development over time.

The feedback on content, quality and delivery is impressive, and trainers have been rated from good to excellent. Recent comments include: “Thanks for an interesting and sometimes tough course”... “Well done. Great course and great trainers”... “A very comprehensive course well taught”... “Very informative, enjoyable and a lot of fun.”

We have rightly focused on tackling violence and protecting members of staff. Recent statistics on violence against health workers identified 60,385 physical assaults across the NHS in England during 2004-2005.

The NHS SMS is looking forward to the continuation of a mutually supportive working relationship with all stakeholders in developing the wider security agenda across the NHS.

Sue Frith, Deputy Head (NHS Security Management) NHS Security Management Service

• Nick van der Bijl replies: No-one doubts that the aim of the SMS is to promote security within the NHS. It is, after all, building on previous developments by NHS Estates, the NHS Confederation and the NHS Executive supported by the NAHS but without the budget available to the SMS.

It is correct to say that the NAHS regularly meets with the SMS. However, the former’s desire to promote security management in the LSMS course was largely rejected. The four quotes cited by Sue Frith represent the expected positive ‘spin’.

In an article entitled ‘Cure and Secure’, published in the Public Service Review (Health), Richard Hampton – the SMS’ head of security management – writes that LSMS hold responsibility for security-related matters, delivering presentations and holding surgeries. However, the training course focuses on investigation for three weeks (encompassing ‘Incident Detection’, ‘Incident Investigation’ and ‘Sanctions’). The underlying purpose is that the LSMS can then assemble case files. This part of the course is marked towards a Pass or Fail.

The final week of training centres on ‘Prevention and Deterrence’. This includes the submission of a response to a Home Office-led crime prevention question that is not even marked!

For anyone involved in security management, prevention and deterrence are key principles requiring, for instance, the ability to carry out a thorough security review, advise on the security input to new build projects, manage security contracts and understand the basic underlying principles of security technology.

Knowledge of investigation into crime is useful but not vital, and I write that as an NHS Trust security manager.

The very fact that the LSMS course is still developing shows how poorly conceived it really is, and highlights the fact that it will result in differing levels of expertise.

Now that financial restraints are beginning to bite throughout the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service, the SMS needs to summon its allies – in particular the NAHS – and develop co-ordinated strategies to continue the much-needed development of healthcare security.

Success will be judged not only on how the SMS deals with violence and aggression, but also in terms of how it protects NHS property and equipment in its wider context.

Nick van der Bijl BEM, Chairman NAHS