The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has issued a stark warning to the government, calling for urgent action to address the alarming rise in violence against NHS staff.
The union has labelled the situation “utterly abhorrent” and is demanding immediate reforms to reduce A&E waiting times, end corridor care, and resolve chronic understaffing.
New data obtained through Freedom of Information requests to 89 NHS trusts in England reveals a shocking 94% increase in physical assaults on healthcare workers between 2019 and 2024. In 2024 alone, 4,054 incidents of physical violence were recorded, compared to 2,093 in 2019.
The RCN’s analysis also shows that 12-hour A&E waits have surged more than twentyfold in the same period, creating high-stress environments that are fuelling aggression and endangering frontline staff.
The crisis is particularly severe in some areas. At a hospital in Bristol, violent incidents nearly doubled from 83 in 2019 to 152 in 2024. In Kent, one hospital saw a 500% increase, with attacks rising from 13 to 89.
One senior A&E nurse described her workplace as a “tinder box” for violence. She recounted harrowing experiences, including being spat at, threatened with acid, and witnessing colleagues assaulted and even confronted with a firearm. The psychological toll led her to take a secondment in research to recover from depression and anxiety.
General Secretary and Chief Executive of the RCN, Professor Nicola Ranger, commented:
“Behind these shocking figures lies an ugly truth. Dedicated and hard-working nursing staff face rising violent attacks because of systemic failures that are no fault of their own. Every incident is unacceptable, but we need ministers and trust leaders to acknowledge some of the key underlying causes.
“Nursing staff not only go to work underpaid and undervalued but now face a rising tide of violence. It leads to both physical and mental scarring, lengthy time off and sometimes staff never returning. It's unarguably true that you can’t fix the health service when vital staff are too scared to even go into work.
"The government needs to do more than record the shocking levels of violence – it needs to reduce it. Measures to keep staff safe day-to-day are crucial, but the stark reality is that unless the government does something about lengthy waits, corridor care and understaffed nursing teams, more nursing staff will become victims of this utterly abhorrent behaviour.
"Left unaddressed, this could see plans to reform the NHS fail completely.”
The RCN is warning that unless the government takes decisive action, its 10-Year Health Plan is at risk of total failure. The union is calling for:
- Urgent investment to reduce A&E waiting times
- An end to corridor care, which leaves patients and staff vulnerable
- Recruitment and retention strategies to address chronic understaffing
This crisis is not just a workforce issue—it’s a patient safety issue. Without a safe and supported NHS workforce, the quality of care across the health service is at risk.
Image credit: iStock
Video Credit: Royal College of Nursing
