Staff working in hospital emergency departments have reported being punched, spat at, and threatened with guns and acid amid a rise in violence across England.1
Freedom of information (FOI) requests sent by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to acute hospital trusts found that incidents of violence against emergency department staff almost doubled, from 2093 in 2019 to 4134 in 2024.
At some hospitals the rise was even sharper. For example, at Southmead Hospital in Bristol the number of incidents nearly tripled in the same five year period from 83 to 232. At Maidstone Hospital in Kent, incidents rose by over 500% from 13 in 2019 to 89 in 2024.
The statistics include incidents targeting doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other medical professionals working in emergency departments.
The RCN said that as just 89 of 129 trusts (69%) answered its FOI requests, the scale of the violence is likely far higher.
Violence fuelled by frustration over long waits
Commenting on the findings, East Midlands senior charge nurse Rachelle McCarthy told the RCN that she had …
