Over-stretched A&E staff report more than 70,000 counts of verbal and physical abuse each year.
A&E staff live in fear of being attacked, researchers have revealed after tallying up how many times they were abused in 2016.
Nearly 193 attacks occur daily by angry patients and visitors, as they now consider dealing with violence part and parcel of their job.
It comes amid the ‘worst winter ever’ for the NHS, with tempers high among patients who are furious about the state of the health service.
Official data confirms the NHS has been crippled by a crisis, with A&E diverts and ambulance delays having reached worrying levels in recent weeks.
The new study, by Lancaster University researchers, uses data from 2016, before the ‘humanitarian crisis’. The toll could be higher for 2017.
A&E staff live in fear of being attacked, researchers have revealed after tallying up how many times they are abused each year
Scared nurses and doctors have revealed they have been left with PTSD and serious injuries, and live in fear their attacker may return some day.
The findings suggest clear signs put up in hospitals warning visitors that police and security teams will escort them out the premises are being ignored.
Lancaster University researchers concluded there was a total of 70,555 reported assaults on frontline hospital staff in the UK in 2016.
The findings were made after scientists looked into reports of abuse against medics working in emergency departments in 18 countries.
Around the world, one in four emergency staff suffered some sort of physical abuse, with nurses subject to regular verbal and physical abuse.
Dr Ian Smith, a clinical psychologist and co-author of the study, made the findings by going through questionnaires and surveys by staff.
He said: ‘Staff appear to passively accept violence and aggression, often when preventative and reactive strategies were inconsistently enforced.’
One healthcare worker said: ‘People can swear at us, spit at us, bite at us…try and hurt us and nobody puts an incident report in.’
It was also seen that some staff saw some patients as being able to control their violence more than other.
Another said: ‘If the patient has dementia, that’s a bit different than a drunk patient or just a patient angry about waiting time.’
The researchers said some workers often missed signs of increasing aggression before an attack.
Others found it hard to understand why they were being attacked when they were trying to help.
One unnamed medic said: ‘My biggest hurdle was that I feel like a victim, rather than getting to be in the “superman” role.’
The study, published in the International Journal of Emergency Nursing, also found staff working on their own can often feel inadequate and guilty.
One member of staff who replied to the survey said: ‘Nobody cared at all, not even the head nurse. You feel abandoned.’
It was found experiencing violence and aggression led to feelings of powerlessness, with some reluctant to work in emergency departments.
Some staff were said to be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and were left with serious injuries from attacks.
One said: ‘I’m always worried whether the person will come back.’ Another added: ‘I ended up tearing cartilage in my left knee, ended up having surgery.’
The experience of violence and aggression also had an effect on the ability or willingness of staff to do their job.
An A&E staff member said: ‘A female patient… came into be treated. For some reason this triggered a post traumatic reaction for me.
‘I instantly became very shaky, nauseated, and started crying… I then went to counselling for a couple of months, I think.
‘My biggest hurdle… was [that I felt], and still do, feel like a victim, rather than getting to be in the “superman” role.’
Writing in the journal, researchers said: ‘These accounts imply that staff’s sense of self-worth was dependent on their ability to care and “rescue” patients.
‘Violence and aggression in the emergency department can often be an overwhelming yet inevitable experience for staff.
‘A strong organisational commitment to reducing violence and aggression is imperative.’
The psychologists also found some staff had become ‘less tolerant of aggressive behaviour’ which sometimes led to an increasing number of violent incidents.