Incidents of violence against ambulance staff ‘increasing’, leaders warn
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UK ambulance services are on course to report the highest ever rate of violent, aggressive and abusive incidents against their staff, leaders from the sector have warned. At least 55 ambulance staff every day are abused or attacked, according to the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) – with incidents including kicking, head-butting, spitting, verbal abuse, sexual assault and serious attacks involving weapons.
Data from the organisation shows there were 11,817 reported incidents of violence, aggression and abuse against ambulance staff in the six months to September 2024. The figures accounts for 61% of the 19,633 reported for 2023/24 overall, the AACE claims.
At the current rate, the organisation expects incidents to top 20,000 for the first time ever across the 14 ambulance services. Anna Parry, managing director of AACE, said: “These new figures highlight the upsetting fact that ambulance employees face the very real possibility of being subject to violence or abuse each time they start a shift.
“This can have a significant and lasting impact on wellbeing and sometimes even lead to people leaving the ambulance service.”. AACE also estimates more than 5,000 incidents will be reported over the winter months of December, January and February. More than 2,000 are expected from December 2024 alone, it said.
According to the organisation, alcohol plays a major part in assaults against ambulance staff, followed by drugs and people in mental health crisis. Jason Killens, AACE chair and chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust, added: “It is with huge regret that we see the level of violence, aggression and abuse across all UK ambulance services increasing and that frontline clinical employees as well as call handlers are affected.
