Increased maximum sentences for assaulting nurses

Abuse and assaults on nursing staff are increasing year on year, with the latest Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Employment Survey highlighting that some 27% of respondents reported being physically abused by patients or relatives in the preceding year and some 68% reported verbal abuse from patients and relatives (Marangozov et al, 2018).

The RCN has long campaigned for tougher sentences for those who are violent towards nurses and was eventually successful in persuading parliament to extend the definition of ‘emergency worker’ in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill to include all NHS nurses and support workers, not just those working in emergency departments.

The principles underpinning the 2018 Act and set out by the government argue that:

‘An assault on any individual or citizen in our society is a terrible thing, but an assault on an emergency worker is an assault on us all. These people are our constituted representatives. They protect society and deliver services on our behalf. Therefore, an attack on them is an attack on us and on the state, and it should be punished more severely than an attack simply on an individual victim.’