The South Central Ambulance Service has said “rising levels of violence must stop” against paramedics and service staff.

The NHS Foundation Trust for the service, which serves the county of Oxfordshire, reported that last year violence, assault and aggression against ambulance workers reached an all time high.

It’s supporting calls from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives for national policy interventions to help combat the growing violence against paramedics in the UK.

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It recorded a total of 22,536 incidents, an average of more than 95 incidents per month in the year from April 2024 to March this year, an increase of nearly 15 per cent.

This means that at least three members of ambulance staff across the south central region are abused or attacked every day.

The service said that incidents reported included kicking, punching, slapping, head-butting, spitting, verbal abuse and sexual assault, and ranged from common assault to significant serious attacks involving a multitude of weapons.

One story of a student paramedic, Al Goffey, told how he was punched in the face in broad daylight and forced to defend himself when he and his colleague were flagged down by a man in Aylesbury who needed help.

Mr Goffey told ITV Meridian: “We had our backs to the vehicle and turned around and unfortunately he had followed us all the way up the road and proceeded to punch me in the face - even though I put my hands up and asked him not to.

“I was scared at the time – just because I wasn’t expecting it.”

Mr Goffey suffered an injury to his face, with a cut under his right eye and bruising across the right side of his face.

Speaking to ITV, he added: “This is a job where you expect to go and see people, you help them. We're not aggressive people, you try and stay calm, you try and help people."

His attacker was sentenced to 18 months in jail for assault.

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Commenting on the latest figures, Kirsten Willis-Drewett, assistant director of operations at SCAS, said: “Unfortunately, we know that staff out on the road and in our control room face unacceptable physical and verbal abuse every day, and we wholeheartedly support the association’s calls for more action to address this rising problem.

“We have worked with our local police forces to secure convictions against people who have attacked our staff and current legislation can see such perpetrators jailed for up to two years.

“As well as providing our staff with body worn cameras, and additional training to keep themselves safe when dealing with challenging situations or behaviours, we offer our staff a range of support should they be the victims of verbal or physical abuse.

“But with the numbers of such attacks now at record levels, more action at a national level is needed.”

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: "South Central Ambulance Service staff work tirelessly for the public and we will never tolerate any form of assault on emergency workers.

"We take every report of assault seriously and will investigate fully."

The association is using spring, when data shows that incidents of violence and aggression usually start to escalate, before peaking in the summer, to highlight how this affects staff.

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South Central Ambulance Service said summer last year saw the highest number of incidents on record reported, at 6,093, with aggravating factors including alcohol, drunks and mental health crises. 

Anna Parry, managing director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, said: “These new figures are beyond worrying and underline the upsetting fact that ambulance employees face the very real possibility of being subject to violence or abuse each time they start a shift, which is just unacceptable.

“This can have a significant and lasting impact on wellbeing and can sometimes even lead to people leaving the ambulance service.

“Our ongoing Work Without Fear campaign is shining a light on this alarming issue and raising awareness of the negative impact of this behaviour on our people, while a significant amount of work is ongoing within ambulance services to help better protect our workforce.”