The Labour Court recommended an insurance-based compensation scheme for psychiatric nurses who suffer psychological trauma directly from an assault at work, and a one-off extension to about 40 claims already lodged. The recommendation was dated 29 March 2007.
The Services Industrial Professional Technical Union and Psychiatric Nurses' Association sought implementation of a 2003 task force proposal for a no-fault scheme covering serious physical or mental injury. The HSE-EA said the Government had decided against that proposal on legal advice and that an insurance-based scheme was being developed.
The Court said the unions had a legitimate expectation of a satisfactory resolution following a ministerial commitment in 2002. It recommended that psychological trauma be covered where it arose directly from an assault on a nurse while at work.