The BBCThe BBC has found that violence and abuse against paramedics and emergency call handlers is on the rise, with reported cases increasing by more than a third since 2019.
Around 45,000 assaults were recorded by ambulance services across England in the past five years, with staff saying they were punched, kicked, threatened with weapons and subjected to racist, homophobic and religious abuse. was made
Paramedic Nutan Patel-West, 41, said he was racially abused “several times” during his shift and, during a call-out in 2021, escaped serious injury after a glass ashtray was thrown. Gone.
The government said it had a “zero tolerance approach to this type of behaviour” and warned that those who assaulted emergency workers could be jailed for up to two years.
Mrs Patel West, who has worked for the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) for more than a decade, said: “I was verbally abused, racially abused, punched and punched. But the knife was drawn.
“One patient at work said ‘you need to go back to your country, you’re not welcome here’ before he threw an ashtray at my head. He missed by an inch.
“I signed up for this job to help people, not this one.”
The paramedic said the incidents had affected his confidence.
“When you go back after being abused, it heightens your senses and it just instills fear in you, especially on night shifts when you don’t know,” he said. What to expect.”
The BBC submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to every ambulance service in England, revealing that between 2019 and 2023, 44,926 physical and verbal attacks on frontline and operations staff were recorded.
Across England that equates to an average of 173 assaults per week, although staff in Lancashire and Manchester said they believed the abuse was “underreported”.
“I don’t report every incident because if I did I would never be away from the computer, sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day,” said Mrs Patel West.
In the last four and a half years, NWAS recorded 1,281 cases of physical assault, 1,192 cases of verbal abuse and threats, 711 cases of sexual assault and 150 cases of racial abuse.
Emergency call handler James Shelley, 33, who works at an NWAS office in Manchester, said he was “shaking” after being subjected to homophobic abuse for 11 minutes in a call earlier this year. were left
“I took a call from a gentleman whose mother had scabies, he asked me to send a taxi and when I reminded him that we are not a taxi service, he started hurling homophobic abuse at me,” he said. said Mr. Shelley.
“It doesn’t usually bother me, but it was 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I was in for an hour and he was so aggressive. I was shaking after that.”
The caller was later identified as Mahendra Singh, 36, of Trafford. He was fined £500, ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and given a 16-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months at Manchester Magistrates’ Court in July.
In his victim impact statement, which was read to the court, Mr Shelley said: “The comments reminded me of the abuse and insults I received at school when I was coming to terms with my sexuality.
“It made me feel personally attacked and I don’t think that’s acceptable in this day and age.”
NWAS Violence Prevention and Mitigation Manager, Natalie Samuels, urged the public to remain calm and respectful when dealing with emergency services.
“I understand it’s an emotional time when people need an ambulance, but our call handlers have to go through a set of questions to make sure we get people the right care,” she said. have been.”
“We just ask the public to stick to the questions and answer them as calmly as they can.”
NWAS paramedic Lisa Morley, 38, told the BBC in Blackpool: “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve done it or you’re going to get scared at some point.” .
He added: “Although abuse is happening often, it’s not every patient. We just try to focus on good jobs and your support.”