Violence is the new normal in A&E departments. Even in Britain

In light of these figures, the RCEM has launched the ‘Safe to Care’ campaign, calling on UK governments to take immediate action to reduce waiting times, end treatment in corridors, improve safety and provide genuine support for staff who put their own lives at risk every day. RCEM President Ian Higginson does not mince his words: no one should go to work fearing – or worse, expecting – to be assaulted, intimidated or insulted, yet this is the daily reality for the majority of his colleagues. The UK Department of Health has issued a clear condemnation of all forms of violence against NHS staff, alongside a reference to new national standards, introduced in July, which require employers within the health service to implement concrete measures to prevent and reduce such incidents.

When Athens weeps, Sparta does not laugh. One need only glance at the Italian figures to realise that our situation is far from reassuring. According to the Annual Report of the Ministry of Health’s National Observatory on the Safety of Healthcare and Social Care Professionals, in 2025, there were almost 18,000 recorded assaults on healthcare and social care workers in Italia, affecting over 23,000 professionals (a single assault may, in fact, involve several people at the same time). In Italia, too, verbal assaults are the most common (in 69 per cent of cases), followed by physical assaults (25 per cent) and assaults on property (6 per cent). The groups most affected are nurses, who alone account for over half of the incidents, followed by doctors and social care workers, whilst women are the most frequent victims, accounting for over 60 per cent of reports in most regions.

As in the United Kingdom, the majority of incidents of violence here also occur in hospitals – particularly in A&E departments – as well as in psychiatric assessment and treatment units and on inpatient wards. Overcrowding, long waiting times, and poor and inadequate communication with patients’ families also emerge as triggering factors in Italian analyses. Meanwhile, Law 171/2024 has strengthened criminal law provisions, including the possibility of arrest in the act (or at a later date) for assaults documented by video footage and written evidence. There are some tentative signs of improvement, such as in Lombardy, where in 2025 reports of assaults fell by around 16 per cent compared with the previous year, thanks to the strengthening of rapid-alert systems linked to the police, but the news continues to report serious incidents almost every week, from hospitals in Veneto to those in Puglia.

One aspect that the UK and Italia have in common is the widespread feeling amongst healthcare workers that violence is now regarded as almost ‘normal’ – part of their day-to-day work – and that the system is struggling to provide them with genuine protection. For this reason, both across the Channel and here at home, the call from doctors and nurses is the same: CCTV cameras and panic buttons are not enough; we need to tackle the root causes of tension in A&E departments, starting with overcrowding, endless waiting times and the shortage of doctors and nurses, which every day put the nerves of patients and staff to the test. In short, the watchword is ‘reorganisation’. But above all, zero tolerance for violence.