By Adam Hopper, the new National Ambulance Violence Prevention and Reduction Lead at the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE)
As busy ambulance staff, you and your colleagues are all too aware of the frequent instances of violent and aggressive behaviour that emanates from a small section of the people you are trying to help.
Unfortunately, it is a grim reality that ambulance staff face the possibility of violence, assault and aggression every time they start a shift. When they occur, these attacks have a significant and lasting impact on the team member, affecting every aspect of their life. Despite that, ambulance staff continue to turn up for work to help and serve their local communities.
This is why the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives – with support from NHS England – is leading a new national campaign called #WorkWithoutFear to promote respect for ambulance staff across the country, a six-month initiative that has already achieved significant media coverage and will continue to do so in the coming months.
Simultaneously, the issue is being given high priority at Board level across all ambulance services, with AACE hosting a new national ambulance violence, prevention and reduction hub.
Through this hub we are determined to collate consistent national data, find out where and why this is happening, implement strategies to try and reduce attacks, and ensure that the voices of our staff are heard. The national hub is seeking to support ambulance trusts with collaborative working, procedures and policies in their own efforts to counteract the rising tide of violence faced by ambulance staff.
By highlighting this huge problem with our #WorkWithoutFear campaign we hope to encourage positive behaviour change and to encourage more appropriate sentencing for those found guilty of attacking our staff.
Every day last year, a staggering 32 ambulance staff were abused or attacked – more than one during every hour of every day throughout the whole year: a total of 11,749 staff. This was an increase of 4,060 incidents over the last five years. The most significant rise covered the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when assaults jumped up by 23% compared with the year before.
The assaults included incidents of kicking, slapping, head-butting and verbal abuse, and ranged from common assault to very serious attacks involving knives and weapons.
Our national #WorkWithoutFear campaign highlights the profound impact of this abuse on the everyday lives of ambulance staff. Its purpose is to encourage the minority of people who might commit these offences to have respect for the people who are trying to help them, their friends and families when they need it most.
We hope this campaign raises awareness of the impact of this behaviour on individuals, emphasises that it is totally unacceptable in any form, and ensures that our staff are treated with the respect they deserve.
The Assaults on Emergency Workers Offences Act 2018 legislation is in place, but we must now see the judiciary consistently using that to issue the most appropriate sentences to those found guilty of committing these appalling crimes.
The Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, has backed our campaign and has reassured us that the Government is taking action to protect all staff through the NHS Violence Reduction Programme, as well as backing the NHS, Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring offenders to justice.
The campaign has also been backed by many health organisations, unions, fire and rescue services, police forces, membership bodies and high profile senior people including the NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, all of which is a particularly welcome sign that this issue is being taken very seriously at the highest levels.
Our research shows that alcohol is the most prominent factor in assaults against ambulance staff, followed by drugs and people in mental health crisis. Race and sexuality have also increased as exacerbating factors in these assaults.
Assaults against female staff have seen a 48% increase in the number of attacks over the last five years, while younger ambulance staff (aged 21-34) have seen the largest increase in assaults compared to other age groups. Two-thirds of offenders who assault ambulance staff are male.
While the vast majority of patients and the public are grateful and thankful for the care they receive from us, it is sadly the small minority who are aggressive and abusive that have a significant impact on the professional and personal lives of our ambulance staff.
The campaign features several staff from all over the country who have been the victims of assault, including West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedics Deena Evans and Michael Hipgrave, who saw their attacker jailed for nine years after he stabbed them as they went to help him. Deena has talked of how this has changed her life significantly and how she was only able to begin the healing process when her attacker was behind bars.
Echoing our view, UNISON national officer Alan Lofthouse commented:
Staff have the right to go to work without being abused. Those who are verbally or physical attacked suffer long-term effects or even leave the job they love.
Violence and aggression against ambulance workers is never okay. That important message must be loud and clear.
We are encouraging the public to pledge their support for this campaign by using and sharing #WorkWithoutFear on social media and by visiting www.aace.org.uk/vaa to view films about some of those affected.As ambulance staff you can play a vital role by doing the same.
