Nurses working in the NHS say they are having to endure violence and abuse as ‘a fact of life’ as figures showed police have been called 4,000 times to London’s hospitals in two years.

Those working on the frontline during the Covid crisis have spoken of being threatened, spat at and beaten up, with some even ending up in hospitals themselves.

Frustrations at ongoing restrictions, long waits for treatment and staff shortages are all contributing to tensions between staff and patients, nurses told Metro.co.uk.

It comes as figures obtained via Freedom of Information requests showed that, in the first 10 months of this year, the Metropolitan Police had been called 2,097 times to five major hospital sites in London – either by hospital staff, members of the public or other police officers.

Although the calls incorporate all manner of offences including burglaries, road traffic accidents and fraud, it is violence against hospital staff that is becoming of increasing concern to those who work in healthcare.

Karen, a mental health nurse at a secure unit, said being assaulted is almost seen as ‘part of the job’ because of the patients she works with.

‘In the last month we’ve had a staff member hospitalised for a long time due to a very serious assault,’ she said.

‘A colleague had his jaw broken and he’s left the hospital. Nurses have been sexually assaulted and it’s not taken seriously because it’s seen as part of the job.

‘After lockdown, violence sky-rocketed because no one was allowed to see their families or leave the premises.

‘I myself got spat on and I got Covid from it which made me quite sick. I’d asked him to stay in his room because he was showing symptoms and he spat in my eye.

‘Unfortunately for NHS staff, it’s normal. I come to work sometimes thinking “am I going to get hurt today” – it’s a horrible feeling.’

Although far from the full picture, the police’s call log for five of London’s major hospitals provide a snapshot into what’s going on.

The 2,097 incidents logged this year is on track to be at least as high as the 2,346 recorded at the same locations last year and may well surpass the 2,788 calls made in 2019.

The Met refused to provide a breakdown of specific incidents for each of the sites – claiming individuals could be identified if so – so we don’t know how many of the calls related to assaults of staff.

The force but did send an overall overview of all the reasons the calls were made and these ranged from burglary and theft of a motor vehicle to bomb threats and hoax calls but also protests, violence against a person, harassment and pleas for urgent assistance.

Police were called to St Thomas’ Hospital, across the river from the Palace of Westminster, nearly twice a day last year and 1,336 calls since the pandemic began in early 2020.

King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill and the Royal London in Whitechapel both logged more than 1,000 incidents in the 22-month period.

There were 56 arrests across the sites in 2021, 25 of these took place at St Thomas’ Hospital and 11 at the Royal Free in Hampstead.

In 2020, there were fewer arrests across the whole calendar year, with 50 recorded, 22 of which were at St Thomas’.

Previously, Unison has found 75,000 NHS staff each year experience physical violence & aggression from patients, relatives or public.

It comes after a new law was passed in 2018, making it a specific offence to assault an emergency worker. The Government is currently in the process of doubling the maximum sentence for these types of crimes to two years.

In January 2021, the NHS also launched a Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard, aimed at better protecting staff after nearly 15% of workers reported being a victim of physical violence in the past 12 months.

But Karen was one of several nurses to speak to Metro.co.uk about how they still feel unsafe at work due to aggressive patients.

All who spoke to us only wanted to give their first name so they could speak freely. They also asked us not to include their exact place of work.

Bert, a nurse on a cancer ward at a major London hospital, said there’s an expectation nurses ‘deal’ with aggression and abuse because it’s seen as ‘part of the job.’

‘Most of my patients are in single rooms, it’s quite an intimate relationship – we are often one-on-one so it can heat up without anyone else being around,’ he said.

‘We have some patients who are tricky and manipulative and quite aggressive sometimes. We have patients who are getting a new diagnosis and not accepting it and we can get the blame for that. Or we have people who are unacceptably rude and aggressive and devalue the care that they get.’

Temi, a newly qualified nurse working at a specialist London hospital, said she’s already experienced abuse which is making her question her career choices.

She said: ‘I have already come across a lot of incidents of staff being directly and indirectly abused by patients and staff as well. It’s a major issue we all face in the NHS.

‘I don’t know how it can be eliminated. I have tried to brush it off, people are frustrated. I try not to let it get too much but it can do.

‘It’s been a rough year with Covid, that has had quite an impact on this issue. Patients are frustrated, they get aggressive. I recently had to get security to get a patient out of the building. We are all here to help each other and to provide care. We do not expect to be treated badly and receive insulting words.’

For Karen, the abuse and assaults have finally got too much, and she’s decided to leave her role for a position in the community – something she never thought she would do.

‘I always thought I’d stay here but I’ve had to choose my mental health over a job that I love. It feels like a thankless job. I always thought if I can’t do it, then who can?

‘Most staff are saying they don’t want to work in in-patients anymore. We have had three vacancies since January that we can’t fill because people are saying we know you have had a lot of assaults, and we know nothing was done about it. There needs to be a lot of change.’

All the nurses we spoke to stressed how much they loved their jobs but echoed the concerns that abuse is forcing people to leave the profession.

With the Covid situation in London rapidly worsening again, all expected the challenges to get even worse in the coming months.

Temi said: ‘It’s non-stop. With the rate of Covid at the moment, it is going to continue. It’s not something that you can physically brush away, even if you want to, every time you come back you remember “this patient did this, they said this they called me this very insulting word”.

‘Sometimes it makes you doubt why you are in the profession in the first place. If you were working elsewhere you wouldn’t get this kind of insult. People are paid at a low rate and then you get the abuse on top of it. It’s no surprise that people want to leave.’

Their words have been echoed by experts who work in the sector.

Lisa Elliott, the Regional Director for the Royal College of Nursing in London, said she’s heard assaults have gone up as the system struggles to keep pace with demand for services.

She added: ‘No nurse or healthcare support worker should ever be subjected to abuse or be assaulted at work.  Yet, the reality is that verbal and physical abuse remains a fact of life for many health care workers across London.  Worryingly, I am hearing reports of an increase in this type of behaviour towards nursing staff as the system struggles to keep pace with the demand for services.

‘These attacks have a real and long-lasting effect on those who are just doing their job, and in some cases, can cause staff to leave the profession.  Employers must take a zero policy approach and it’s crucial that staff report all of these incidents so they can be fully supported, and swift and appropriate action can be taken against perpetrators.  

‘It’s important to highlight that these attacks do not happen in a vacuum.  Improved staffing levels and learning from incidents is a vital part of reducing the risk that too many health care staff run day in, day out.’

Metro.co.uk has contacted NHS England for comment.

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