A new report published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has revealed a rise in violence against nurses in A&E departments across England.

The country's largest nursing union sent freedom of information (FOI) requests to a number of NHS hospitals.

The figures - which came from 89 hospital trusts out of a possible 129 - revealed there were 4,054 cases of physical violence against A&E staff recorded in 2024, up from 2,093 in 2019.

Reacting to the rise, the RCN said more must be done to protect NHS staff.

The union added that long waits are leading to anger among patients who are not prone to violence.

One nursing leader, who contributed to the study, said the issue of violence seems to be specific to the UK and that nurses here are "expected to tolerate it".

A senior charge nur

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