Back to London following a busy morning. Much going on with various meetings and commitments. At 1630 I entered Westminster Hall to take part on a debate sparked by a petition calling for more to be done to protect those who work in the NHS from assault. A colleague of mine reminded attending MPs that there had been 70,000 assaults on NHS staff in one year! It's a staggering and alarming figure and something needs to be done, clearly. Interestingly, we heard that only 10 per cent of assaults result in criminal sanctions of one kind or another. I suggested a mandatory prison term in an intervention, but clearly this would perhaps be inappropriate for those with mental health issues. What we do need though is a deterrent that is effective and does more to protect staff. There were some excellent contributions from colleagues and clearly this is an issue which has huge public support and is not going to go away. I also brought up the question of spit-guards, which prevent someone from spitting in someone's face, which is not only disgusting but carries with it health concerns.