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NHS staff have revealed the horrific abuse they have been forced to endure from patients in the past year, including racial slurs and threats of legal action.

One patient told a health worker: ‘I’m going to smash your f***ing face in’ while another said: ‘It’s your fault if I die’.

Medics recalled the vile insults in video montage showing a ‘harrowing snapshot’ of the ‘harsh reality’ staff face during the coronavirus pandemic.

The 90-second footage, produced by NHS Lanarkshire, Scotland, begins showing people clapping in March 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

But staff became accustomed to verbal attacks by August this year.

Sharon Ghani, of Burnbrae Medical Practice in Shotts, North Lanarkshire, told how she was subjected to racist abuse because of her surname.

She says a patient told her: ‘You should be ashamed to call yourself a nurse, youse just don’t give a f*** – it’s the nurses running the asylum in there, youse are nothing but a bunch of (redacted).’

Meanwhile consultant Eugene Wong said a patient told him ‘I’m going to f***ing smash your face in’.

Speech and language therapy worker Heather Sturgeon was told: ‘Call yourself a caring profession? You don’t care at all – I hope this happens to your child.’

Another patient ‘snarled’ at Elaine Fraser at Bothwell Medical Centre that she was ‘not to use a doctor’s death as an excuse for not being able to give him an appointment that day.’

And staff have also suffered abuse from vaccine sceptics.  

Andrea McIlroy, part of the health board’s coronavirus vaccination team, recalled an incident in which somebody said: ‘F*** yourself, it’s your fault if I die because of this vaccine… I’ll take your name and I’m to get my family to sue you whenever I die after this vaccine.’

Sandra Clark, another in the vaccination team, was told by one patient: ‘I don’t even believe Covid exists – are you going to inject me with a blood clot just now?’

Heather Knox, chief executive of NHS Lanarkshire; Ross McGuffie, chief officer of Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire; and Marianne Hayward, interim chief officer of South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, united to issue a joint statement against the abuse.

They said: “This clip is so raw that it’s brought several senior colleagues, with many years of experience, to tears.

‘Sadly, we know this offers a harrowing snapshot of the harsh reality our health and social staff are experiencing on a wider basis due to the behaviour of a minority of people.

‘We have a clear message to those who would display any form of violent or aggressive behaviour, be it verbal or physical, towards our staff: It never has been tolerated and it will certainly not be tolerated now.

‘We are continually working in partnership with local police in the management of aggressive and violent individuals and we will continue to do so.

“We have an equally clear message to our staff and partners: We have your back.’

They also praised the workers who opened up about their experiences in the footage for their ‘great courage’.

As Covid restrictions are lifted, they urged the public: ‘Please be kind to our staff and colleagues who are committed to caring, no matter the circumstances – people can get frustrated, and we understand that – but think carefully before you speak and act.’

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