Attacks on A&E nurses rise by 91% in six years

Attacks on A&E nurses have almost doubled over the last six years, with incidents often involving patients frustrated at waiting so long for care.

- Denis Campbell

Nurses have been punched, spat at, pinned up against a wall, had a gun pointed at them and been threatened with having acid thrown at them, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

NHS figures show that the number of incidents of violence against nurses in A&E units in hospitals in England rose from 2,122 in 2019 to 4,054 in 2024 – a 91% increase.

Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the RCN, which obtained the data using freedom of information laws, said: "Behind these shocking figures lies an ugly truth. Dedicated and hardworking nursing staff face rising violent attacks because of systemic failures that are no fault of their own. Every incident is unacceptable."

Rachelle McCarthy, a charge nurse in the east Midlands, said that in her A&E department "even patients you would expect to be placid are becoming irate because of just how long they have to wait".

Once she was punched "square in the face" by "a drunk, six-foot-two bloke", she said.

Sarah Tappy, a senior sister in an east London A&E, was punched in the head by a patient in the waiting room, knocking her unconscious. "The violence is awful. And it's just constant.