Emergency department (A&E) staff in the UK report facing violence or aggression from patients or the public frequently, according to a Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) survey released as part of a new campaign to improve safety.
The RCEM says it surveyed 2,126 emergency-department staff and found that 96% have experienced violence or aggression. Around 73% report this occurs weekly or daily, and two-thirds of respondents say incidents include discrimination. Metro and The Guardian both cite staff accounts and the same broader pattern: attacks and abuse are described as common in daily work. Both outlets also highlight that long waits and overcrowding are key drivers, with additional contributing pressures such as staff shortages and corridor care.
The differing emphasis across outlets is mostly in framing rather than facts. Metro stresses the campaign’s language about staff being unsafe at work and notes that only a small share of staff report always feeling safe, alongside reporting rates and whether trusts take action. The Guardian foregrounds the scale of daily/weekly exposure and the idea that abuse has become “routine” on the frontline. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson in Metro’s report says violence and abuse are unacceptable and references new NHS staff standards to prevent and reduce such behaviour.
