Ambulance worker abuse 'completely unacceptable'

A trade union has called for paramedics to receive further training in de-escalation and restraint after ambulance service staff reported hundreds of attacks.

Unison's South East regional secretary Maggi Ferncombe said ambulance workers faced "completely unacceptable" levels of abuse.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) staff reported 1,529 "violence and aggression incidents" between April 2024 and March 2025, up from 1490 incidents the previous year and 1312 in 2022-23.

Secamb NHS Foundation Trust said it was "committed to continuing to work closely with colleagues to ensure we are doing everything possible to protect them".

The union said it wanted to see managers work closely with health and safety teams, staff training to deal with challenging situations, and physical and psychological support if workers were assaulted.

Secamb paramedic Jenny Young said she was injured in a physical attack and knew the long-term effects of violence against staff could be devastating.

"Five minutes of physical or verbal abuse can mean years of suffering and psychological stress," she said. "It's unacceptable and should never be tolerated."

Declan-Lee O'Leary, another Secamb paramedic, said Christmas could be "stressful" for the public and could be accompanied by longer waits for ambulances.

"That frustration can sometimes be directed at our call handlers and frontline crews," he said.

"Abuse and disrespect make an already challenging job even harder."

Unison said it wanted to see "high-quality physical and psychological support if workers are assaulted".

Secamb said violence and abuse could have a huge impact "often lasting years" on its staff.

"We will never tolerate this kind of behaviour and encourage all staff to report any such incident so it can be thoroughly investigated," a spokesperson said.

The NHS trust told the BBC it was "committed to working with our police colleagues to secure convictions".

Sussex Police said "reports of violence or abuse towards emergency workers are taken extremely seriously and perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions".

Surrey Police and Kent Police have been contacted for comment.

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