Nearly three-quarters of A&E staff experience violence or aggression daily or weekly, according to a survey highlighting the “appalling” abuse of NHS workers.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said understaffed and overcrowded emergency departments were contributing to increased targeting of medics.
In a survey of more than 2,000 workers in the UK, 63% said they had suffered discrimination including racism, sexism and homophobia, while 73% said violence or aggression of all kinds was a daily or weekly occurrence. Almost all (96%) said they had experienced abuse from patients or members of the public.
Dr Ian Higginson, the president of the RCEM, said: “No one should go to work fearing or, worse, expecting to be attacked, intimidated or abused. Nor should they lack confidence that their employers have their backs, or that the judicial system will kick in.
“Yet that’s the reality faced by the majority of my colleagues in EDs [emergency departments] across the country. They often do not feel safe to care for patients. It is an appalling state of affairs which is contributing towards many people seriously considering whether emergency medicine – or even healthcare in general – is for them.”
Senior nurses said in January that abuse of NHS staff had become a national crisis.
Source: The Guardian, 7 September 2026
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