North East ambulance workers reveal shocking scale of violence and assaults

Ambulance services across the country have joined forces to raise awareness about the scale of the problem and to launch its #WorkWithoutFear campaign.

Every day last year, a staggering 32 ambulance staff nationally were abused or attacked - more than one every hour of every day during the whole of last year.

Attacks rose particularly steeply against younger workers aged between 21 and 34, and women. 

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In the North East, the ambulance service has recorded almost 2,500 cases in the last five years – reaching a peak last year when incidents jumped from 484 in 2019/20 to 552 in 2020/21.

And in the nine months to the end of December more than 500 incidents were reported.

Teesside ambulance worker Kelly Tipp, who is based in Hartlepool, has been assaulted four times in the last 12 months, once verbally and three physically.

The mum-of-two, who has worked for North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) for 18 years, had little experience of violence until the last year but now wears a body camera on every shift.

She said: “There’s nothing right about it is there?

“I don’t come to work to be assaulted, physically or verbally.  For me it’s an absolute, 100 per cent no, it shouldn’t happen.  I speak to people how I would like to be spoken back to. 

"Most of the cases are drug and alcohol related. It’s not nice. Sometimes you think what’s the point? Why am I doing it? It makes you feel sad. Sometimes you get angry about it.

“I now wear a body camera on every shift. Luckily, I haven’t had to use it as-yet but I know it’s there if I need it. We don’t have anything to defend ourselves if somebody is violent and aggressive towards us so the camera for me is an added extra to help me protect myself.”

Attacks have been on the increase since Covid hit the UK, with assaults jumping by 23 per cent in the initial part of the pandemic.

They included kicking, slapping, head-butting and verbal abuse, and ranged from common assault to serious attacks involving knives and weapons, as well as threatening and verbal abuse.

Ambulance staff at NEAS reported 2,499 incidents of assault and abuse during the last five years.

Lauren Kay, who spent two years as a 999 and 111 health advisor, was regularly subjected to abuse over the phone, and since starting training to become a paramedic has already witnessed it first hand. 

Recalling one call with a drug user who would not give his details, the 23-year-old said: “He immediately got very aggressive and spent a lot of time asking me over and over again how I slept at night, calling me a murderer and told me he was going to hurt me when he found me and he hoped I would burn in hell. It’s not exactly secret where we work so it does make you look over your shoulder a little bit for a few days.”

She added: “Nobody calls 999 on the best day of their lives.

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“We understand that you can be in a situation that is incredibly scary and you don’t know what to do and you’re in a place emotionally where sometimes you can lash out. However, no matter the situation, I really don’t think there’s an excuse to be violent or aggressive, to make anybody feel small or hurt them, especially if they are there with the sole purpose of helping you.”

Vicky Court, deputy chief operating officer at North East Ambulance Service, said: “For our colleagues, working for the ambulance service is so much more than a job; they come to work to help people and under no circumstances should they expect to find themselves a victim of any form of abuse whilst trying to do so.

“The majority of our patients are extremely thankful for their service, but the minority who choose to hurt us need to be under no illusion that we will not tolerate any form of abuse, and we will always encourage our colleagues to prosecute.”

The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) has launched the campaign with support from NHS England. It is also being backed by Unison and the National Police Chiefs' Council. 

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