Scottish Ambulance staff kicked, punched and spat at as attacks reach five-year-high

Assaults on ambulance crews have reached a five-year high with paramedics being kicked, punched, and spat at.

There have been a total of 1,527 verbal or physical assaults on Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) staff by members of the public between between 2020 and 2024, an investigation by Legal Expert has revealed.

The majority of which were physical assaults, which peaked at 859 incidents, while there was 668 cases of verbal abuse incidents.

There have also been incidents where staff members have been spat on, punched, kicked, sexually assaulted and seriously attacked by weapons.

Attacks were highest in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which had 417 logged incidents in total.

It is followed by Lothian which saw 298 attacks and then Lanarkshire which had 189.

“These figures are extremely concerning. Nobody should have to feel threatened at work – especially hard-working, vital NHS staff,” said Legal Expert solicitor, Patrick Mallon.

“Something must be done to tackle abuse towards NHS staff who, for the majority, are just trying to do their jobs.”

In the past year, the SAS logged 141 incidents of verbal abuse and 140 physical attacks, while 23 accounts of staff being threatened by a weapon or instrument within six feet were logged.

There were 13 counts of sexual assault and eight records of aggravated assault on ambulance staff members, which includes intent to kill.

The figures come as the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) warns that UK ambulance services are on course to report the “highest ever rate of violent, aggressive and abusive incidents against staff”, with 11,817 incidents reported across the country.

The organisation said at the current rate it expects incidents to top 20,000 for the first time across the 14 ambulance services.

Anna Parry, managing director of AACE, said: “These new figures highlight the upsetting fact that ambulance employees face the very real possibility of being subject to violence or abuse each time they start a shift.

“This can have a significant and lasting impact on wellbeing and sometimes even lead to people leaving the ambulance service.”

The figures come after a freedom of information request by Scottish Labour in January found that on average, nearly seven ambulance staff a day have to crew a shift themselves.

From 2019 to 2023, more than 13,565 single-crew ambulance shifts were recorded.

Scottish Labour said the practice is putting “unbearable pressure” on staff.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ““Our staff are having to deal with incidents nearly every single day which is completely unacceptable.

“They have the right to carry out their work helping patients and saving lives without fear of assault or abuse. We also strongly condemn the abuse our hardworking call handlers face on a daily basis.

“We understand calling 999 can be a stressful time during emergencies, but abusing our staff will not be tolerated and we will continue to work with Police Scotland to take action against those who do assault or abuse our hardworking staff.”