First prosecution by new NHS security service

A man who punched a nurse and a security guard in the face at a Birmingham hospital has been successfully prosecuted in the first case brought by the NHS Security Management Service (SMS).

The SMS, set up in 2003 to protect NHS staff and patients, took the action after police and the Crown Prosecution Service refused to pursue the matter.

Sheelagh Brewer, the Royal College of Nursing's employment relations adviser, said: "This sends out a message to people who would attack nurses that this issue is being taken seriously, and that they will not get away with it."

But she added: "This is not the first time that the police have declined to take on a prosecution against someone who has attacked a nurse. It is not good enough."