Violence and abuse against ambulance staff in UK at highest level on record

Senior ambulance officials say the true toll may be higher as many incidents are not reported or recorded. Photograph: Hugh Williamson/Alamy

The number of violent assaults, acts of aggression and incidents of abuse against ambulance staff in the UK has risen to the highest on record, according to data health leaders described as “horrendous” and “truly shocking”.

There were 22,536 incidents of violence, aggression and abuse directed at paramedics and other ambulance workers in 2024-25, up 15% on the 19,633 in 2023-24, figures from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) show.