Rising attacks on NHS staff highlight the importance of rapid response
Almost one in seven NHS staff were physically attacked by a patient or member of the public last year, according to the latest NHS Staff Survey.
Published by NHS England in March, the figures show that 14.47% of NHS staff experienced physical violence from patients or the public, the highest rate for three years. The same survey also found a record percentage of staff reporting unwanted sexual behaviour, rising to almost one in three ambulance staff.
The figures are stark, but they will not come as a surprise to many working across the NHS. Violence, aggression, and intimidation are increasingly part of the daily reality for staff who come to work to care for others.
As Danny Mortimer, Director General for People at NHS England, said: “These figures paint a deeply worrying picture of the abuse our hardworking NHS staff face.”
Recent reporting by the BBC from University Hospitals Sussex highlights the scale of the issue in practice. The Trust recorded nearly 2,000 incidents of verbal and physical abuse against staff in the past year, with staff describing incidents involving knives, threats, assaults, and colleagues being forced to hide or barricade themselves in during serious incidents.
Dr Salwa Malik, consultant in emergency medicine, said: “No-one comes to work expecting to be threatened or harmed.”
The response from NHS organisations rightly includes prevention, reporting, de-escalation training, security support and closer working with police. These measures matter, because they help set expectations, protect teams, and ensure incidents are taken seriously.
But when an incident is already happening, speed of response becomes critical. In a large hospital, knowing that someone needs help is only part of the challenge. Responders also need to know exactly where they are, who is closest and how assistance can reach them as quickly as possible.
This is where real-time location awareness can play a practical role in staff safety. By allowing staff to raise an alert from a smartphone and automatically sharing their location with the nearest appropriate responder, hospitals can improve situational awareness during moments where time matters.
Navenio’s staff duress solution is designed to support this type of response. Built on its infrastructure-free location technology, it helps hospitals identify where support is needed, direct responders more quickly, and log incident details afterwards, without requiring new hardware across the site.
Technology alone will not solve violence against NHS staff; the issue requires cultural, organisational, and legal action. But practical tools that help staff feel safer, improve response times, and support better incident management can form an important part of a wider safety strategy.
NHS staff deserve to work without fear of abuse, assault, or harassment. As pressure on services continues, protecting the people who keep those services running should be the highest priority.
Further reading
NHS England: 3-year high in attacks on NHS staff
BBC News: NHS boosts security after violence against staff
