The London Ambulance Service has recently joined the #Workwithoutfear campaign, which aims to shed light on the impact of abuse on its personnel. Instances of physical or verbal abuse towards LAS staff have been on the rise, with reported incidents increasing by 12% this year compared to the previous year. From January to April, there were 781 reported incidents, up from 691 during the same period last year.
A staff survey from the service revealed that 55% of employees in 999 control rooms experienced harassment or abuse from patients, their relatives, or the public at least once in the past year. These findings were released alongside an episode of the BBC One documentary Ambulance, which showed call handlers being bombarded with sexually suggestive calls.
Emergency call co-ordinator Jude expressed the stress of the job and the impact of dealing with abusive callers, highlighting the consequences on their ability to respond to genuine emergencies. The service’s director of 999 operations, Stuart Crichton, emphasized the need to address abuse towards staff, with approximately seven reported incidents daily against ambulance crews and call handlers in London.
LAS has now joined the sector-wide campaign #Workwithoutfear to address the effects of daily abuse on its staff and volunteers. Mr. Crichton emphasized that while most callers are courteous, any form of abuse towards staff is unacceptable. The service is committed to working with law enforcement to take action and pursue prosecutions to protect its personnel.
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