Physical attacks in hospitals 292/2025

FOI Reference: 292/2025

Request:

Please can I ask the following in respect of 2023/24, 2022/23 and 2021/22.

1: How many patients reported suffering physical attacks while in hospitals in your force area over each of the last three years?

2: Please can you break down the figures, e.g. into assaults, indecent and sexual assaults.

3: How many arrests were made and charges brought against the assailants relating to these incidents?

Clarification Q:

Are you referring to incidents or crimes? Please note an incident is different from a crime.  An incident is a record of contact made to a police force by an individual/member of public (usually via a 999 or 101 call) and a crime is where the threshold has been met for the police force to deem that a criminal offence has occurred as defined by law.

Clarification A:

I'm referring to both incidents and crimes.

Response:

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1) (a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1) (b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.

Where exemptions are relied upon Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Dyfed Powys Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information you have requested. However, we are withholding the whole of the requested information since we consider that the Section 12(1) exemption the Cost of Compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit applies to it.

Section 12 (1) – The cost of compliance exceeds the Appropriate Limit

Section 12(1) states: “…Section 1 (1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.”

The cost of providing you with the information requested in respect of your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the “appropriate level” as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004. It is estimated that it would exceed 18 hours (i.e. minimum of 721.5 hours) to comply with this part of your request. The regulations can be located @ https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3244

The Freedom of Information department has been advised that the information in respect of your request is not held in an easily retrievable format. In light of this and in order to accurately obtain the information relative to your request for the time frame stipulated would involve Dyfed Powys Police manually reviewing all incidents reported from a hospital to identify whether it was being reported by a patient and whether they were reporting physical attacks whilst in the hospital.

It has been established that there are a total of 4329 reports that cover the period of your request.  It has also been established that it would take an average of 10 minutes to review each report.  The process outlined results in the below time estimate.

2021/22: 1405 reports x 10 minutes = 234.16 hours

2022/23: 1362 reports x 10 minutes = 227 hours

2023/24: 1562 reports x 10 minutes = 260.33 hours

Time estimate to complete task = 721.5 hours

Please note that it would also exceed 18 hours of work for the relevant department to provide just the crime figures.

In accordance therefore with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a Refusal Notice for the Whole of this request under Section 17(5) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is relying on a claim that section 12 or section 14 applies must, within the time for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating that fact.

You may wish to refine and resubmit your request so that it reduces the time shown above to fall within the 18 hours, should you require any further advice in relation to this matter please don’t hesitate to contact the Freedom of Information Unit. Please also be advised that should the request be refined, it does not remove the public authorities right to cite exemptions if relevant.                                               

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 01/04/2025)