Almost one in seven NHS staff (14.47%) were physically
attacked by a patient or the public last year –
the highest rate for three years – according to the latest NHS
staff survey.
The shocking statistics also found a record percentage of
staff say they were subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour
by the same group - rising steeply to almost one in three
ambulance staff (31%).
The data is revealed in the latest NHS Staff Survey out today,
one of the world's largest workforce surveys established in 2003.
More than 766,000 NHS workers in England responded, providing
vital data for employers and stakeholders about the staff
experience.
It also found nearly one in ten staff (9.26%) said they were
subjected to discrimination from the patient and the public - the
highest on record.
An overwhelming 87.78% of respondents to the staff survey felt
their job made a difference to patients.
While the number of staff who would recommend their workplace to
others fell slightly to 58.05% from 60.79% in 2024.
Danny Mortimer, Director General
(People) for NHS England, said:
“These figures paint a deeply worrying picture of the abuse our
hardworking NHS staff face.
“Staff safety and wellbeing is paramount, and we want
everyone experiencing any kind of unwanted incident to feel
confident enough to report it.
“But while that behaviour is completely unacceptable, we must
look at what more we can do to support the people who keep our
services running.
“We know about the everyday pressures staff face – such as not
being able to get decent food on a night shift – and we haven't
moved fast enough to fix them.
“Staff have worked so hard to improve NHS performance and deliver
care over winter as shown in the latest performance figures.
“These survey results show it is now for the NHS to deliver
improvements for staff because there is so much more to do to
make the NHS a better place to work.”
The Staff survey is available to access here - Working together to improve NHS
staff experiences
