Virtually half of assaults on ambulance workers will not be reported to the police, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Assaults towards paramedics and emergency employees leapt by 30 per cent within the first yr of the pandemic in comparison with 5 years in the past.
Figures from 9 of England’s ten ambulance companies present there have been 11,548 bodily assaults on workers between January 2018 and October 2021.
Assaults towards paramedics and emergency employees leapt by 30 per cent within the first yr of the Covid-19 pandemic in comparison with 5 years in the past (inventory picture)
However simply 54 per cent – 6,310 instances – had been reported to the police, in keeping with knowledge launched underneath the Freedom of Info Act, and simply 8.6 per cent resulted in a ‘felony justice final result’ akin to a cost, conviction or acquittal in court docket.
Unions say workers usually really feel unsupported by NHS trusts, with some pressured to file complaints in their very own time.
It’s an offence to assault an emergency employee, punishable by as much as two years in jail. Because of the rise in assaults, workers are trialling body-worn cameras.