Survey shows high levels of abuse of UK doctors by patients

The public are taking out their frustration at delays and staff shortages on the NHS staff they encounter. Photograph: Nick Moore/Alamy

More than half of UK doctors have seen or experienced abuse by patients or their relatives in the last year, including incidents in which they have been spat at and threatened.

Doctors have variously had their hair ripped out, been backed up against a wall and been racially abused, a survey and dossier of testimonies collated by a medical organisation has revealed.