Nurses reveal shocking abuse from patients as backlog rises

Nurses have spoken of the shocking abuse they face from patients as the NHS struggles to cope with a rise in demand for care.

Both patients and staff are becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation the NHS is in, with staff shortages and a patient backlog of six million people causing already stretched services extra strain.

"As we are the faces that the public see we do get the brunt of a lot of their anger as they are becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation that the NHS is in," one nurse wrote on Nursing Standard’s Facebook page. "Staff are equally frustrated with the whole situation and knackered from working long hours and covering for the many staff still absent."

Nurses given the task of conveying ‘unwelcome messages about the limitations of resources’

Another said: "Working in an ED abuse occurs on a daily basis… it is not acceptable but even when you Datix these incidents nothing gets done, staff are reduced to tears and frightened to walk into patient waiting areas, it is not acceptable."

It comes as former chief inspector of social services Lord Herbert Laming accused health service managers of putting nursing staff in the public firing line during a House of Lords debate on reducing abuse of nurses in the NHS.

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Source: 12 April 2022, Nursing Standard