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More hospital staff being attacked in UK (2nd December, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

The number of physical attacks against hospital staff is rising in the U.K. New figures from Britain's National Health Service (NHS) show a six per cent rise in violent assaults on care workers in the past year. There were 63,199 reported assaults in 2012-13 across England, up from 59,744 from the previous year. That means more than 173 nurses, orderlies or other staff are assaulted every day. Unions say these figures do not tell the whole story. Union spokeswoman Christina McAnea said: "Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg as violence on NHS premises remains an under-reported problem. The [government] cuts and resultant pressure on services are causing growing patient frustration."

Britain's Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter condemned the attacks on hospital staff. He said: "Any physical or verbal abuse against NHS staff is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated." He added: "It is outrageous that there have been so many physical assaults against NHS staff." He said there were measures to keep undesirable people out of hospitals. "Legal powers are available to remove people not requiring treatment from hospital premises in cases of nuisance behaviour, and to prosecute those who refuse to leave." Richard Hampton of the support group NHS Protect said: "NHS staff should expect to be able to provide care in a safe environment, free from violence and physical assault."

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/nhs-staff-assault-figures-show-rise-29795066.html
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/news/uk-news/2013/11/29/nhs-staff-assault-figures-show-rise/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-violence-number-violent-attacks-2866223

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. HOSPITAL STAFF: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about hospital staff. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

rising / assaults / previous year / nurses / tip of the iceberg / pressure / frustration / condemned / abuse / outrageous / undesirable / treatment / prosecute / care / safe

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. PROTECT NURSES: How can we protect nurses while they are doing their job? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Pros	Cons
Patient ID cards
Karate training
Security guards
Prison sentences
Denial of treatment
Your idea _______

4. PRISON: Students A strongly believe anyone who attacks a nurse in a hospital should spend many years behind bars; Students B strongly believe not. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. FRUSTRATION: Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put who frustrates you most at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• hospital staff

• store assistants

• politicians

• teachers

• banks

• motorists

• telephone support staff

• big companies

6. HOSPITAL: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "hospital". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	There was a reported 6% rise in attacks on U.K. nurses and orderlies.	T / F
b.	There was a rise of almost 60,000 attacks on Britain's hospital staff.	T / F
c.	Unions say the figures are an accurate account of violence in hospitals.	T / F
d.	Unions say government cuts are not responsible for the rise in attacks.	T / F
e.	Britain's health minister condemned any attacks on hospital staff.	T / F
f.	The health minister said he would take more measures to protect staff.	T / F
g.	There is nothing hospitals can do to get violent people to leave.	T / F
h.	A support group said staff should be able to work in a safe workplace.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	attacks	a.	properties
2.	figures	b.	take to court
3.	previous	c.	denounced
4.	premises	d.	preceding
5.	frustration	e.	ill-treatment
6.	condemned	f.	assaults
7.	abuse	g.	shocking
8.	outrageous	h.	annoyance
9.	prosecute	i.	safe from
10.	free	j.	statistics

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	The number of physical attacks against	a.	verbal abuse
2.	violent	b.	the previous year
3.	up from 59,744 from	c.	group
4.	Sadly, this is only the tip	d.	patient frustration
5.	causing growing	e.	people out of hospitals
6.	physical or	f.	hospital staff is rising
7.	measures to keep undesirable	g.	a safe environment
8.	nuisance	h.	assaults
9.	support	i.	behaviour
10.	provide care in	j.	of the iceberg

GAP FILL

The number of physical attacks against hospital staff is (1) ____________ in the U.K. New figures from Britain's National Health Service (NHS) show a six per cent rise in violent assaults on (2) ____________ workers in the past year. There were 63,199 (3) ____________ assaults in 2012-13 across England, up from 59,744 from the (4) ____________ year. That means more than 173 nurses, orderlies or other staff are assaulted every day. Unions say these (5) ____________ do not tell the whole story. Union spokeswoman Christina McAnea said: "Sadly, this is only the tip of the (6) ____________ as violence on NHS premises remains an under-reported problem. The [government] (7) ____________ and resultant pressure on services are causing growing patient (8) ____________."

figures
cuts
rising
reported
frustration
care
iceberg
previous

Britain's Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter condemned the attacks on hospital staff. He said: "Any physical or verbal (9) ____________ against NHS staff is totally unacceptable and will not be (10) ____________." He added: "It is (11) ____________ that there have been so many physical assaults against NHS staff." He said there were (12) ____________ to keep undesirable people out of hospitals. "Legal powers are available to remove people not (13) ____________ treatment from hospital premises in cases of (14) ____________ behaviour, and to prosecute those who refuse to leave." Richard Hampton of the (15) ____________ group NHS Protect said: "NHS staff should expect to be able to provide care in a safe environment, (16) ____________ from violence and physical assault."

outrageous
nuisance
requiring
free
abuse
measures
support
tolerated

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	The number of physical attacks against hospital ______
	a. staff is raising b. staff is risen c. staff is rising d. staff is arising
2)	63,199 reported assaults in 2012-13 across England, up from 59,744 from ______
	a. the previously year b. the impervious year c. the previous year d. the in previous year
3)	That means more than 173 nurses, orderlies or other staff are ______
	a. assault it every day b. assaulted every day c. assorted every day d. assortment every day
4)	Union spokeswoman Christina McAnea said: "Sadly, this is only the tip ______ …"
	a. of the iced berg b. of the icebergs c. of the nice berg d. of the iceberg
5)	government cuts and resultant pressure on services are causing growing ______
	a. patiently frustration b. patience frustration c. patients frustration d. patient frustration
6)	Britain's Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter ______
	a. commanded the attacks b. condemns the attacks c. condemning the attacks d. condemned the attacks
7)	physical or verbal abuse against NHS staff is totally unacceptable and will ______
	a. not be tolerant b. not be tolerable c. not be tolerated d. not be tolerate
8)	He said there were measures to keep ______ out of hospitals
	a. an desirable people b. undesirable people c. undesirables people d. non-desirable people
9)	remove people not requiring treatment from hospital premises in cases of ______
	a. nuisance behaviours b. nuisance behaviourism c. nuisance behaviour d. nuisance behavioural
10)	NHS staff should expect to be able to provide care ______
	a. in a safe environment b. in a safer environment c. in a safety environment d. in a safes environment

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The number (1) ___________________ against hospital staff is rising in the U.K. New figures from Britain's National Health Service (NHS) show a six per cent rise (2) ___________________ on care workers in the past year. There were 63,199 reported assaults in 2012-13 across England, up from 59,744 (3) ___________________. That means more than 173 nurses, orderlies or other staff are assaulted every day. (4) ___________________ figures do not tell the whole story. Union spokeswoman Christina McAnea said: "Sadly, this is only the (5) ___________________ as violence on NHS premises remains an under-reported problem. The [government] cuts and resultant pressure on services are causing (6) ___________________."

Britain's Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter (7) ___________________ on hospital staff. He said: "Any physical or verbal abuse against NHS staff is totally unacceptable and (8) ___________________." He added: "It is outrageous that there have been so many physical assaults against NHS staff." He said there were (9) ___________________ undesirable people out of hospitals. "Legal powers are available to remove people not requiring treatment from hospital premises in (10) ___________________ behaviour, and to prosecute those (11) ___________________." Richard Hampton of the support group NHS Protect said: "NHS staff should (12) ___________________ provide care in a safe environment, free from violence and physical assault."

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	Who produced the figures for the attacks on staff?
2.	By what per cent did the number of attacks increase?
3.	On average, how many attacks happen each day?
4.	What idiom explained how just a small part of the problem was shown?
5.	What is growing among patients?
6.	Who is Dan Poulter?
7.	What did Mr Poulter say was "totally unacceptable"?
8.	What can keep people who do not need treatment out of hospitals?
9.	Who can hospitals prosecute?
10.	What did Richard Hampton say hospitals should be free from?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	Who produced the figures for the attacks on staff?	6.	Who is Dan Poulter?
	a) Britain's National Health Service b) a nursing union c) the British police d) a prison organisation		a) a union leader b) a senior nurse c) Britain's police chief d) Britain's Health Minister
2.	By what per cent did the number of attacks increase?	7.	What did Mr Poulter say was "totally unacceptable"?
	a) 4 b) 5 c) 6 d) 7		a) waiting lists b) abuse against staff c) nursing unions d) tolerance
3.	On average, how many attacks happen each day?	8.	What can keep people who do not need treatment out of hospitals?
	a) 137 b) 173 c) 317 d) 371		a) ID checks b) security guards c) physical assaults d) legal powers
4.	What idiom explained how just a small part of the problem was shown?	9.	Who can hospitals prosecute?
	a) to steal someone's thunder b) a piece of cake c) hit the nail on the head d) the tip of the iceberg		a) legal staff b) unions c) people who refuse to leave d) patients
5.	What is growing among patients?	10.	What did Richard Hampton say hospitals should be free from?
	a) frustration b) waiting lists c) patience d) illnesses		a) patients b) physical assault c) unions d) support groups

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Karate training

You think karate training for staff is the best way to stop attacks on hospital staff. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): security guards, prison sentences or denial of treatment.

Role B – Security guards

You think security guards are the best way to stop attacks on hospital staff. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): karate training for staff, prison sentences or denial of treatment.

Role C – Prison sentences

You think prison sentences are the best way to stop attacks on hospital staff. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): security guards, karate training for staff or denial of treatment.

Role D – Denial of treatment

You think denial of treatment is the best way to stop attacks on hospital staff. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them things that are wrong with their ways. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): security guards, prison sentences or karate training for staff.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'hospital' and 'staff'.

hospital

staff

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

number
past
173
whole
tip
growing

verbal
added
measures
legal
leave
free

HOSPITAL STAFF SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about hospital staff in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

HOSPITAL STAFF DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'nurse'?
c)	What do you think about what you read?
d)	What should happen to people who attack hospital staff?
e)	How can hospitals protect their staff against attacks?
f)	What would you do if you saw someone attacking a nurse?
g)	Why are more people in the UK attacking hospital staff?
h)	What needs to be done if this is just the tip of the iceberg?
i)	What advice would you give to hospital staff who are attacked?
j)	Should governments cut spending on hospitals?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	What do you think of hospital staff?
c)	How are hospitals in your country?
d)	Will a health minister's condemnation be enough to stop the attacks?
e)	Why do ministers say violence is outrageous and will not be tolerated, then do nothing to stop it?
f)	Can hospitals refuse to treat people who do not behave?
g)	Should hospitals employ security guards to deal with troublemakers?
h)	Would you like to be a nurse?
i)	What's the best care you've had in a hospital?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Britain's Health Minister?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

The number of physical attacks against hospital staff is (1) ____ in the U.K. New figures from Britain's National Health Service (NHS) show a six per cent rise in violent assaults on care workers in the past year. There were 63,199 (2) ____ assaults in 2012-13 across England, up from 59,744 from the (3) ____ year. That means more than 173 nurses, (4) ____ or other staff are assaulted every day. Unions say these figures do not tell the whole story. Union spokeswoman Christina McAnea said: "(5) ____, this is only the tip of the iceberg as violence on NHS premises remains an under-reported problem. The [government] cuts and (6) ____ pressure on services are causing growing patient frustration."

Britain's Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter condemned the attacks on hospital staff. He said: "Any physical or verbal abuse (7) ____ NHS staff is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated." He added: "It is (8) ____ that there have been so many physical assaults against NHS staff." He said there were (9) ____ to keep undesirable people out of hospitals. "Legal powers are available to remove people not requiring treatment from hospital premises (10) ____ cases of nuisance behaviour, and to prosecute (11) ____ who refuse to leave." Richard Hampton of the support group NHS Protect said: "NHS staff should expect to be able to provide care in a safe environment, (12) ____ from violence and physical assault."

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	arising	(b)	rising	(c)	risen	(d)	raising
2.	(a)	stated	(b)	reported	(c)	written	(d)	declared
3.	(a)	preemptive	(b)	obvious	(c)	impervious	(d)	previous
4.	(a)	underlings	(b)	orderlies	(c)	undergraduates	(d)	actuaries
5.	(a)	Sadder	(b)	Sad	(c)	Sadness	(d)	Sadly
6.	(a)	results	(b)	resulted	(c)	resultant	(d)	result
7.	(a)	against	(b)	for	(c)	from	(d)	as
8.	(a)	outlandish	(b)	outpouring	(c)	outrageous	(d)	outlaws
9.	(a)	gauges	(b)	rulers	(c)	tapes	(d)	measures
10.	(a)	in	(b)	at	(c)	to	(d)	as
11.	(a)	those	(b)	them	(c)	they	(d)	which
12.	(a)	free	(b)	freely	(c)	freedom	(d)	frees

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	The number of siylhapc attacks
2.	violent suaasslt on care workers
3.	up from 59,744 from the uirevpso year
4.	only the tip of the iebgrce
5.	violence on NHS sprsmeei
6.	causing growing patient rottaifsrnu
Paragraph 2
7.	Dr Dan Poulter edoncemnd the attacks
8.	totally paaeunlcecbt
9.	It is tuoeasugor that there have been so many
10.	keep uesldbnerai people out of hospitals
11.	in cases of ucasnine behaviour
12.	provide care in a safe tnniomnveer

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	of the iceberg as violence on NHS premises remains an under-reported problem. The [government]
( )	outrageous that there have been so many physical assaults against NHS staff." He said there were
( )	treatment from hospital premises in cases of nuisance behaviour, and to prosecute those
( )	more than 173 nurses, orderlies or other staff are assaulted every day. Unions say these
( )	Britain's Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter condemned the attacks on hospital staff. He said: "Any physical
( )	63,199 reported assaults in 2012-13 across England, up from 59,744 from the previous year. That means
( )	cuts and resultant pressure on services are causing growing patient frustration."
( )	Health Service (NHS) show a six per cent rise in violent assaults on care workers in the past year. There were
( )	who refuse to leave." Richard Hampton of the support group NHS Protect said: "NHS staff should
( )	measures to keep undesirable people out of hospitals. "Legal powers are available to remove people not requiring
( )	or verbal abuse against NHS staff is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated." He added: "It is
( )	expect to be able to provide care in a safe environment, free from violence and physical assault."
( 1 )	The number of physical attacks against hospital staff is rising in the U.K. New figures from Britain's National
( )	figures do not tell the whole story. Union spokeswoman Christina McAnea said: "Sadly, this is only the tip

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	attacks The against number hospital of staff physical.
2.	day Nurses , orderlies or other staff are assaulted every.
3.	story . Unions say these figures do not tell the whole
4.	of the iceberg Sadly , this is only the tip.
5.	cuts Government services on pressure resultant and.
6.	unacceptable totally is staff NHS against Abuse.
7.	outrageous have many is there so It that been.
8.	people Measures out to of keep hospitals undesirable.
9.	people remove to available are powers Legal.
10.	expect able care should be provide Staff to to.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

The number of physical / physically attacks against hospital staff is rising in the U.K. New figures from Britain's National Health Service (NHS) show a six per cent rise in violence / violent assaults on care workers in the past year. There were 63,199 reported / studied assaults in 2012-13 over / across England, up from 59,744 from the previous / early year. That means more than 173 nurses, orders / orderlies or other staff are assaulted every day. Unions say these figures / figure do not tell the whole story. Union spokeswoman Christina McAnea said: "Sadly / Sadness, this is only the top / tip of the iceberg as violence on NHS premises remains an under-reported problem. The [government] cuts and resulted / resultant pressure on services are causing growing patient frustration."

Britain's Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter condemned / commandeered the attacks on hospital staff. He said: "Any physical or verbal abusive / abuse against NHS staff is totally / totalled unacceptable and will not be tolerated." He added: "It is outlandish / outrageous that there have been so many physical assaults against NHS staff." He said there were rulers / measures to keep undesirable / undesirables people out of hospitals. "Legal powers are available to remove people not required / requiring treatment from hospital premises in cases of nuisance behaviour, and to procreate / prosecute those who refuse / diffuse to leave." Richard Hampton of the support group NHS Protect said: "NHS staff should expect to be able to provide care in a safe environment, free / frees from violence and physical assault."

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

Th_ n_mb_r _f phys_c_l _tt_cks _g__nst h_sp_t_l st_ff _s r_s_ng _n th_ _.K. N_w f_g_r_s fr_m Br_t__n's N_t__n_l H__lth S_rv_c_ (NHS) sh_w _ s_x p_r c_nt r_s_ _n v__l_nt _ss__lts _n c_r_ w_rk_rs _n th_ p_st y__r. Th_r_ w_r_ 63,199 r_p_rt_d _ss__lts _n 2012-13 _cr_ss _ngl_nd, _p fr_m 59,744 fr_m th_ pr_v___s y__r. Th_t m__ns m_r_ th_n 173 n_rs_s, _rd_rl__s _r _th_r st_ff _r_ _ss__lt_d _v_ry d_y. _n__ns s_y th_s_ f_g_r_s d_ n_t t_ll th_ wh_l_ st_ry. _n__n sp_k_sw_m_n Chr_st_n_ Mc_n__ s__d: "S_dly, th_s _s _nly th_ t_p _f th_ _c_b_rg _s v__l_nc_ _n NHS pr_m_s_s r_m__ns _n _nd_r-r_p_rt_d pr_bl_m. Th_ [g_v_rnm_nt] c_ts _nd r_s_lt_nt pr_ss_r_ _n s_rv_c_s _r_ c__s_ng gr_w_ng p_t__nt fr_str_t__n."

Br_t__n's H__lth M_n_st_r Dr D_n P__lt_r c_nd_mn_d th_ _tt_cks _n h_sp_t_l st_ff. H_ s__d: "_ny phys_c_l _r v_rb_l _b_s_ _g__nst NHS st_ff _s t_t_lly _n_cc_pt_bl_ _nd w_ll n_t b_ t_l_r_t_d." H_ _dd_d: "_t _s __tr_g___s th_t th_r_ h_v_ b__n s_ m_ny phys_c_l _ss__lts _g__nst NHS st_ff." H_ s__d th_r_ w_r_ m__s_r_s t_ k__p _nd_s_r_bl_ p__pl_ __t _f h_sp_t_ls. "L_g_l p_w_rs _r_ _v__l_bl_ t_ r_m_v_ p__pl_ n_t r_q__r_ng tr__tm_nt fr_m h_sp_t_l pr_m_s_s _n c_s_s _f n__s_nc_ b_h_v___r, _nd t_ pr_s_c_t_ th_s_ wh_ r_f_s_ t_ l__v_." R_ch_rd H_mpt_n _f th_ s_pp_rt gr__p NHS Pr_t_ct s__d: "NHS st_ff sh__ld _xp_ct t_ b_ _bl_ t_ pr_v_d_ c_r_ _n _ s_f_ _nv_r_nm_nt, fr__ fr_m v__l_nc_ _nd phys_c_l _ss__lt."

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

the number of physical attacks against hospital staff is rising in the uk new figures from britain's national health service (nhs) show a six per cent rise in violent assaults on care workers in the past year there were 63199 reported assaults in 2012-13 across england up from 59744 from the previous year that means more than 173 nurses orderlies or other staff are assaulted every day unions say these figures do not tell the whole story union spokeswoman christina mcanea said "sadly this is only the tip of the iceberg as violence on nhs premises remains an under-reported problem the [government] cuts and resultant pressure on services are causing growing patient frustration"

britain's health minister dr dan poulter condemned the attacks on hospital staff he said "any physical or verbal abuse against nhs staff is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated" he added "it is outrageous that there have been so many physical assaults against nhs staff" he said there were measures to keep undesirable people out of hospitals "legal powers are available to remove people not requiring treatment from hospital premises in cases of nuisance behaviour and to prosecute those who refuse to leave" richard hampton of the support group nhs protect said "nhs staff should expect to be able to provide care in a safe environment free from violence and physical assault"

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

ThenumberofphysicalattacksagainsthospitalstaffisrisingintheU.K.Newfigure
sfromBritain'sNationalHealthService(NHS)showasixpercentriseinviolentass
aultsoncareworkersinthepastyear.Therewere63,199reportedassaultsin2012
-13acrossEngland,upfrom59,744fromthepreviousyear.Thatmeansmoret
han173nurses,orderliesorotherstaffareassaultedeveryday.Unionssaythesefi
guresdonottellthewholestory.UnionspokeswomanChristinaMcAneasaid:"Sad
ly,thisisonlythetipoftheicebergasviolenceonNHSpremisesremainsanunder-
reportedproblem.The[government]cutsandresultantpressureonservicesarec
ausinggrowingpatientfrustration."Britain'sHealthMinisterDrDanPoultercond
emnedtheattacksonhospitalstaff.Hesaid:"Anyphysicalorverbalabuseagain
stNHSstaffistotallyunacceptableandwillnotbetolerated."Headded:"Itisoutrag
eousthattherehavebeensomanyphysicalassaultsagainstNHSstaff."Hesaidthe
reweremeasurestokeepundesirablepeopleoutofhospitals."Legalpowersareav
ailabletoremovepeoplenotrequiringtreatmentfromhospitalpremisesincaseso
fnuisancebehaviour,andtoprosecutethosewhorefusetoleave."RichardHampt
onofthesupportgroupNHSProtectsaid:"NHSstaffshouldexpecttobeabletoprov
idecareinasafeenvironment,freefromviolenceandphysicalassault."

FREE WRITING

Write about hospital staff for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

People who attack hospital staff should spend a minimum of 20 years in prison. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about hospital staff. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. HOSPITAL STAFF: Make a poster about hospital staff. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. ATTACKS: Write a magazine article about attacks on hospital staff. Include imaginary interviews with staff and Britain's Health Minister.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to Britain's Health Minister. Ask him three questions about hospital staff. Give him three ideas on how to look after them better. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

T

c

F

d

F

e

T

f

F

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	attacks	a.	assaults
2.	figures	b.	statistics
3.	previous	c.	preceding
4.	premises	d.	properties
5.	frustration	e.	annoyance
6.	condemned	f.	denounced
7.	abuse	g.	ill-treatment
8.	outrageous	h.	shocking
9.	prosecute	i.	take to court
10.	free	j.	safe from

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Britain's National Health Service (NHS)
2.	6%
3.	173
4.	The tip of the iceberg
5.	Frustration
6.	Britain's Health Minister
7.	Physical or verbal abuse against staff
8.	Legal powers
9.	People who refuse to leave hospitals
10.	Violence and physical assault

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

a

2.

c

3.

b

4.

d

5.

a

6.

d

7.

b

8.

d

9.

c

10.

b

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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More hospital staff being attacked in UK (2nd December, 2014)

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