NHS staff face rising tide of violence and abuse from patients

SPECIAL REPORT: Helena Vesty reports on life inside A&E where aggression and assaults have become all too common

- Helena Vesty

VIOLENCE and aggression is a nightmare brought to life every day in our hospitals and nurses and medics fear that one day it will lead to the ultimate consequences.

"It's been an issue ever since I started working in A&E.

"Maybe it's just that you're more aware of it as you realise it shouldn't be as tolerated as it is, but it does seem to be getting worse", says a Greater Manchester nurse speaking anonymously.

"I've received physical violence and have often been on shift with colleagues who have been physically abused by patients. The verbal abuse is day in, day out."

For this nurse, who works in A&E, nothing is off limits from patients. "The language used is always aggressive and threatening. I've been told 'I'll follow you to the car park' and 'I'll follow you home.

"I've seen staff kicked and punched, hair being pulled is a common thing, headbutting. It's really any kind of violence. Spitting is regular," she said.

"As a woman, you do feel more vulnerable, and nursing is a field more predominantly filled by women. But it really is everyone that is subject to it."

"People pick on anything - even the colour of your hair," said another A&E nurse who works in the region.

"I often think aggression and violence can come from expectations people have of the NHS. People come to A&E thinking their problem is the most important and that they'll be seen imminently.

"We can often have 120 to 180 people in the emergency department, there can be 30 just in the waiting room. People don't see what's going on behind the scenes.

"Resus (the area of A&E where the most critically ill are treated) might be slammed with people dying. But someone coming in with abdominal pain thinks they should be seen straight away. They demand to see someone. Sometimes there's no limit to what they want."

'MENTAL HEALTH IS USED AS A SCAPEGOAT'