Violence against UK ambulance staff at highest level on record

The number of violent assaults, acts of aggression and incidents of abuse against ambulance staff in the UK has risen to the highest on record, according to data from health leaders, who describe the situation as "horrendous" and "truly shocking".

- Andrew Gregory

There were 22,536 incidents of violence, aggression and abuse directed at paramedics and other ambulance workers in 2024-25, up 15% on the 19,633 in 2023-24, figures from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) show.

It means that each week, on average, those responding to 999 calls are the victims of 433 attacks, including kicking, punching, slapping, headbutting, spitting, sexual assault and verbal abuse.

Senior ambulance officials said they believed the true toll was higher, with many incidents not reported or recorded. Female paramedics and ambulance workers are the most likely to be targeted by the public.