Healthcare workers across England are confronting a "national emergency" as shocking new figures reveal a surge in violent and sexual assaults by patients, with nearly 300 incidents reported every single day.
A Crisis of Violence and Abuse
An exclusive Guardian analysis of data from NHS trusts has uncovered a devastating picture of abuse faced by doctors, nurses, and paramedics. More than 295,000 incidents of physical violence and aggression were recorded by 212 NHS trusts in England between 2022 and 2025.
The scale of the problem is escalating rapidly. Reported violent incidents, which include threats, attempted assaults, and actual attacks, rose from 91,175 in 2022-23 to 104,079 in 2024-25. This equates to an average of approximately 285 cases being logged daily in the most recent year.
Professor Nicola Ranger, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), stated unequivocally: "The scale, frequency and severity of the abuse faced by the NHS workforce make this a national emergency for staff safety."
Sexual Assaults and Systemic Failures
The crisis extends beyond physical violence to include a steep rise in sexual harm. Trusts recorded nearly 24,000 alleged incidents of sexual assault and harassment over the past three years, a sharp increase from about 20,000 in the previous five-year period.
Frontline staff have reported being sexually assaulted while providing treatment, with some female nurses in A&E describing patients deliberately ejaculating on them. "It should cause total outrage that healthcare professionals, especially in a female-dominated profession like nursing, face the prospect of being sexually assaulted, violently assaulted or sometimes both," said Professor Ranger.
Alarmingly, healthcare unions and staff report that perpetrators rarely face bans on treatment or criminal prosecution, despite attacks involving knives and other weapons causing hundreds of thousands of pounds in damage to rooms and equipment.
Root Causes: Anger, Distrust, and a Broken System
The British Medical Association (BMA) attributes the spike in violence to a toxic combination of factors. These include public frustration over long waiting times for treatment, a growing distrust of medicine fuelled by Covid-19 conspiracy theories, and a significant increase in racist abuse directed at staff of colour.
Dr Emma Runswick, Deputy Chair of the BMA Council, explained that all NHS staff are "living in increasing fear of harassment, abuse, violence." She highlighted that race-based abuse is "massively on the rise," with particularly severe incidents reported in areas like Greater Manchester.
The crisis is further compounded by severe pressures on mental health services. Managers report that entire hospital wards are now routinely shut down for weeks or months to isolate violently unwell teenagers, due to a catastrophic lack of appropriate specialist care beds.
"Out of a year, we probably have six or seven months where we have at least one ward shut down completely for one patient who is so violent there can’t be other patients on the ward with them," revealed a risk manager at a large northern NHS trust.
Under-Reporting and a Call for Action
The official figures are believed to represent only a fraction of the true scale of abuse, as frequent incidents mean staff often lack the time to formally report them. Suspiciously low reporting rates at some trusts suggest widespread under-recording.
An RCN survey of 20,000 nurses last month found more than 27% had been physically assaulted in the past year, with over 10% reporting sexual harassment. Unions are now calling on Health Secretary Wes Streeting and NHS England to take urgent action, warning that many trusts are likely in breach of their legal duties under health, safety, and worker protection laws.
In response, the Health and Social Care Secretary stated: "Violence, aggression, racism, and sexual misconduct against NHS staff is completely unacceptable... The NHS has zero tolerance for this behaviour." He cited an ongoing review and new guidance for harsher penalties, including life sentences for the most serious attacks.
An NHS England spokesperson reiterated that violence against staff is "totally unacceptable," urging all incidents to be reported. The National Police Chiefs' Council also affirmed a zero-tolerance stance. However, with staff facing nearly 300 attacks daily, the gap between policy and the grim reality on hospital wards appears wider than ever.
