AMBULANCE staff in Northern Ireland have suffered more than 3,500 cases of physical and verbal abuse over the last five years, a legal firm has claimed.
The data from the UK firm Legal Expert, suggested that a total of 3,565 Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) workers suffered abuse while carrying out their duties between 2019 and 2024.
This includes 1,351 incidents of physical assaults - around 270 every year - 1,186 verbal assaults and 1,028 other instances logged as “non-physical assaults”.
The NIAS said the figures made for “disturbing reading”.
In 2023/24, NIAS staff were said to have suffered 721 physical and verbal assaults – with 237 incidents involving physical contact and 220 where there was physical threat with no contact.
A total of 203 instances of verbal abuse were said to be logged by NIAS, as well as 48 incidents of sexual abuse which included harassment and indecent exposure
In the last 12 months, NIAS were also said to have recorded 13 incidents of psychological abuse and five instances of racially-charged verbal abuse towards staff.
It follows an update earlier this month from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) that UK ambulances were on course for the highest rate of reported incidents of violence, aggression and abuse directed at workers in the sector – with over 20,000 incidents across the UK’s fourteen ambulance services in 2024/25.
The AACE say this amounts to 55 attacks a day – with reported incidents including kicking, punching, slapping, head-butting, spitting, verbal abuse and sexual assault.
Some attacks even involve the use of weapons and the true number of assaults may be even higher as many incidents go unreported.
Earlier this month, the AACE chair Jason Killens and head of the Welsh Ambulance Service commented: “It is with huge regret that we see the level of violence, aggression and abuse across all UK ambulance services increasing and that frontline clinical employees as well as call handlers are affected.”
He said the “unacceptable behaviour” was having a major long-term impact on the health wellbeing of ambulance workers trying to save lives.”
The NIAS told The Irish News that the figures “make for disturbing reading”.
Despite previous campaigns and calls for attacks to cease, it said physical and verbal assaults continued at a rate of 14 per week.
NIAS previously referenced the impact that attacks had on communities in terms of crews being stood down mid-shift.
It said its staff should never be subject to the levels of abuse and physical harm which they sometimes encounter.
“These attacks occur much too frequently, and they are totally unacceptable to our staff, us and society in general,” said NIAS chief executive Michael Bloomfield.
“This is a difficult role at all times and for our staff to face the added fear of assault – physical and verbal, when they are trying to provide the best possible care and treatment is disgraceful and I call on all those with influence to condemn it.
“These attacks can have a lasting emotional and psychological impact on our staff when physical wounds may have healed much quicker.”
Mr Bloomfield said the impact of such attacks went far beyond the staff directly affected.
They often result in levels of cover being reduced as staff are unable to continue with their duties.
“Affected areas may be left vulnerable due to longer response times as crews attend from neighbouring stations,” he said.
“This could have potentially fatal consequences for those who urgently need of our service.
“NIAS will continue to call for the full rigour of the law to be applied in instances where evidence against an assailant is clear and indisputable.”
