Violence and aggression now a “routine” part of working in A&E, emergency doctors warn

Three quarters of A&E staff experience or witness violence and aggression in their department on a daily or weekly basis, a survey has indicated.Long waits, overcrowding, and corridor care are making an existing problem worse, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) warned in a new report.1These conditions exacerbate patient frustration, reduce privacy, and place staff under greater pressure, which all combine to make incidents more likely, the RCEM said.The latest performance figures from NHS England show there were 47 000 patients waiting over 12 hours for an emergency admission in July 2026. On average around 2300 patients received corridor care per day.2A recent BMJ investigation found that eight in 10 trusts are caring for emergency department patients in corridors or other unsuitable places.3Stories of lengthy waits and corridor care are also frequently making headlines in the media. For example, the BBC recently reported that a woman with suspected meningitis…