NHS: Violence Against NHS Staff

Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath Excerpts

Monday 2nd March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

Again, I am very sorry to hear of the experience that the noble Baroness had and should not have had. Sadly, I am sure that she was not—and is not—alone in having had such experiences. We have zero tolerance towards violence, bullying and intimidation, and I would regard that as being an instance of that. We need to improve our data and our recording. We are developing a common reporting framework for violence prevention and reduction which will support the adoption of more consistent approaches to dealing with it and improve comparability across not just systems but services. The noble Baroness’s point about community-based violence is as valid as points about hospital-based violence: violence is unacceptable wherever it is.

[Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a lay member of the General Medical Council. I was very sorry to hear the example given by the noble Lord; unfortunately, we have all heard too many such examples. If a healthcare professional is the subject of violence in the workplace, the police may be required, sadly, to arrange for a forensic physician to examine the victim. That experience can be stressful and daunting for the member of staff in question. Can my noble friend the Minister outline what steps are being put in place to support those practitioners in such instances?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I think I understand my noble friend’s question; if I have misunderstood, I will gladly write to her. The point here, I think, is about not just practice but culture. We need to see good leadership. We need good organisational culture to improve staff engagement and staff responsibilities when faced with dealing with such incidents. Again, our NHS working cultures need to be more compassionate and more inclusive, and they need better support, including around occupational health and staff well-being. Practitioners are part of the solution, and of course we give them our full support.