Four out of five NHS nurses say they have been attacked or threatened at work, according to research.
A poll of 500 nurses carried out by YouGov for ITV’s Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme also found that one out of four nurses said they were considering quitting because of their fears over future assaults.
Nine out of 10 said they believed working in the NHS was riskier than other professions with one in four reporting that being threatened “is part of the job”.
Government minister, Liam Byrne, said the issue of security was being taken “very seriously” by the government.
“We need security staff and things like better training in conflict resolution,” he said.
A separate survey of 217,000 NHS staff in March, by the Healthcare Commission, found that one in four staff said they had been victims of violence.
