A NATIONAL Campaign by ambulance workers is looking to promote respect across the country and help treat patients safely, without fear of being attacked.

The Work Without Fear campaign is led by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) and supported by NHS England. It highlights the impact of abuse on ambulance workers and aims to encourage would-be offenders to have greater respect.

The AACE says as a result of the escalation in abusive incidents, dedicated violence prevention teams have been established within each NHS ambulance service, along with body-worn cameras, training, and counselling.

Anna Parry, AACE Managing Director said: “Unfortunately, it is a sad fact that ambulance workers face the very real possibility of violence, aggression and abuse each time they start a shift. These incidents can have a significant and lasting impact on our people, sometimes even leading them to leave the ambulance service. This is why it is vital that the UK ambulance sector does all it can to help protect its people and support them if they are subjected to assaults.

“Our ongoing campaign is shining a light on this alarming issue and raising awareness of the hugely negative impact of this behaviour on our people. There is also a considerable amount of work ongoing within ambulance services to help protect our people and minimise the opportunities available for perpetrators to attack and abuse them.”

Data published by the AACE shows a record 17,114 incidents of violence and abuse being registered during the 2023/24 financial year, meaning every day last year, 47 ambulance staff were abused or attacked. This equates to two every hour of every day throughout the whole year.

The data reflects an increase of 123 per cent in these incidents since records began eight years ago.

More information is available online.