'I've been punched and kicked working in A&E'

"I've been punched and scratched and kicked," says senior nurse Jess Turnbull, a sister on the A&E unit at St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo.

"A colleague of mine has had their jaw broken. People have been chased with knives in the department. It can be hard to carry on with your job when there's violence and aggression going on."

Turnbull's experience reflects the findings of a recent NHS survey which found a 60% increase in physical assaults on staff at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust year-on-year.

The trust is now launching a campaign reminding people that violent and abusive behaviour is unacceptable and that these acts of aggression have a lasting effect on teams and individuals.

Turnbull has been a sister at St Thomas' Hospital for many years, but says it is becoming an ever more difficult environment to work in.

She said abuse from patients, their relatives or other members of the public lingered with her for "a long time afterwards".

She said: "I always find it quite horrible when somebody's threatening to be violent towards you, especially when they say something like 'I'm going to get you after work'.

"You don't want to feel unsafe leaving your shift at the end of the day. I always find that's quite hard to hear.

"Because it's so busy there, you don't have a lot of time to process what's happened. You just need to get on and see the next patient."

Turnbull said most of her colleagues in A&E had also had similar experiences.

"A colleague of mine has had their jaw broken," she said. "There's been broken bones.

"Everything can be used as a weapon; fire extinguishers, furniture.

"We regularly have to call police to support us, and we still need to help really unwell patients in and amongst all that's going on."

Turnbull and other staff are supported by security guards who work around the clock across the hospital.

Ike Obi, head of security at St Thomas' Hospital, said they also regularly experienced physical and verbal abuse.

"The team deal with loads of abuse, threatening behaviour, racist, sexist, homophobic behaviour towards them on a daily basis," Obi said.

"One of our security staff was trying to restrain an aggressive patient and he had his finger bitten off.

"He had to undergo surgery here, although he lost that finger. After a while he left."

The experiences of physical and verbal abuse and intimidating behaviour staff deal with at St Thomas' Hospital are not isolated to the hospital.

The 2025 NHS staff survey found that in Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, which encompasses five London hospitals, approximately one in 10 staff reported experiencing physical violence.

The survey also found physical assaults on staff rose from 418 reported cases in 2024 to 2025, to 669 in 2025 to 2026. This equates to almost two incidents of physical abuse against staff each day.

Aggressive and abusive behaviour against clinical and administrative staff also rose by 23%, and amounts to more than eight incidents each day.

The NHS trust launched a poster campaign across its hospitals in response to the growing number of assaults, which it hopes will "send a clear message that violent and abusive behaviour against staff and other patients is not acceptable".

Crystal Akass, chief people officer at the trust, said: "The vast majority of our patients and visitors are respectful to colleagues here at the trust, but even isolated incidents of aggression can have a lasting effect on individuals and teams.

"This campaign draws attention to how we want all our colleagues to be treated - every one of whom has a right to feel safe and protected in their workplace."

Karen Bonner, NHS England's chief nurse for London, said: "We see an increase in racist attacks on our staff and we know that we've got a diverse community of staff here in London.

"The mental and physical impact it has on our colleagues - some people will leave the NHS as a consequence to that, or not be able to work in that direct patient care."

Both Turnbull and Obi said they would carry on helping people who visited the hospital, but hoped the public would treat them and their colleagues with more kindness.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk