More than nine in ten nurses and midwives have experienced physical violence while doing their jobs, according to data released by UNISON and Nursing Times today (Tuesday).
The abuse includes NHS staff being punched, bitten, spat at, choked, headbutted and even stabbed – with the violence occurring daily for one in eleven (9%).
Around one in six (17%) nurses or midwives said they’d experienced violence in the previous week. More than six in ten (63%) had been attacked within the preceding 12 months.
The findings are based on a joint survey by UNISON and Nursing Times of more than 1,000 nursing and midwifery staff and students across the UK.
The vast majority (93%) said they had experienced physical violence in the workplace. Almost nine in ten (89%) of these reported that the incidents involved patients, while almost a fifth (19%) had been victims of attacks by patients’ families or other visitors.
Harrowing incidents included one where a nurse was stabbed in the neck and stomach, punched and had teeth knocked out. A healthcare support worker said a bedpan of urine was thrown over her, and she was thumped and kicked.
Nurses said the main factors behind the attacks were mental health issues (cited by 61% of staff who’d been attacked) and cognitive impairment, including dementia and delirium (53%).
Staff shortages were cited as aggravating factors by more than two in five (44%) staff. More than a quarter (27%) said the treatment of patients in inappropriate settings – such as a hospital corridors, or in acute hospitals when mental health care was needed – was partly to blame.
Other issues said to have contributed to attacks included lengthy patient waiting times (19%) and staff working alone (10%). NHS no-smoking policies were also given as a reason, such as a ban on patients smoking in gardens or other outside areas. For non-white staff, 44% said race was a factor in the violence.
The survey shows this shocking abuse is adding to the NHS workforce crisis and driving nurses and midwives out of the profession, says UNISON.
A third of staff (33%) needed to take time off work after suffering physical violence on a shift and more than a fifth (22%) had moved to a different role in healthcare as a result. In total, three in five staff (61%) had thought about quitting nursing or midwifery altogether due to concerns about violence at work.
Despite reporting attacks to their employer, only a third (34%) of respondents felt supported. More than half (53%) said they felt unsupported and 69% said they felt their employer failed to take the issue of violence against staff sufficiently seriously.
Concerningly, just over a quarter (26%) of all those surveyed said they felt safe at work. One respondent concerned about their safety was a hospital nurse in Northern Ireland who said she’d been threatened with a gun while she was assessing a patient.
Staff also highlighted a lack of action by police, particularly where incidents involved mental health patients. Others said managers had a “victim-blaming” attitude, while some said that putting up with attacks was “part of” being a nurse or midwife.
UNISON says employers must do all they can to ensure workplaces are as safe as possible. That includes making sure there are enough staff on shifts.
Commenting on the report, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Staff are as frustrated as patients and hospital visitors about delays and long waits. They want to be able to treat people more quickly but can’t.
“No one should be attacked or live in fear of being assaulted, when all they’re doing is going to work to care for those in need.
“Not all patients are capable of controlling their actions, but those that are, and who’ve been violent, must face the consequences of harming NHS workers.
“Employers have a legal duty to protect staff from any risk to their health or safety at work, and must do more. A dramatic cultural shift is needed in the NHS or the service will keep losing experienced people who’ve simply had enough.”
Nursing Times editor Steve Ford said: “Our findings indicate increasing violence against NHS staff is a shocking symptom of the pressure that our health and social care systems are under.
“It goes without saying that any act of physical violence against health and social care staff is unacceptable and must be called out. But that threat is the reality facing many hardworking nurses as they do their best to provide high quality and compassionate care.
“This survey must be a wakeup call for employers to take action. Posters won’t do the job. Practical and systemic measures are needed and fast.”
Notes to editors:
– The survey was conducted by Nursing Times in February 2025. Between 11 and 28 February 2025, a total of 1,103 staff responded to the online survey about their experiences of being attacked during their careers.
– Experiences of survey respondents included: A student nurse in England who said she’d been attacked several times a week, including being “thrown over a tea trolley, choked and pinned against a wall”.
Others said: “I was punched and bitten last year because there weren’t enough staff on shift to restrain safely a woman who was attacking me and my colleague. This led to concussion and a bite on the arm that punctured the skin. I had to be tested for blood-borne viruses and was off work with stress for two months.”
“I had post-traumatic stress disorder after being attacked and required trauma therapy. I have permanent injuries and had to be redeployed.”
“I am leaving the service in August after 30 years. I don’t feel safe and dread going to work.”
“As a student nurse, you are essentially paying for the privilege of being assaulted.”
“Pressures in the system can cause patients and visitors to become angry. However, there’s little trust-wide support when violence or abuse occurs.”
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 157178 E: press@unison.co.uk
The article Nurses and midwives subjected to violence at work on a daily basis, according to UNISON/Nursing Times survey first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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