NHS bosses must listen to staff complaints, a union warned today as a survey found that the proportion of staff being attacked at work is at a three-year high.

More than 766,000 NHS staff in England responded to the NHS Staff Survey, with some 14.47 per cent reporting at least one incident of violence from patients or the public in the last 12 months, the highest proportion since 2022.

More than one in four said they had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse. 

Almost one in 10 workers reported experiencing discrimination from patients or the public, the highest figure on record, while a similar proportion said they had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour from patients — also the highest in three years.

Meanwhile, the proportion of staff who would feel secure raising concerns at work is at a five-year low. 

Unison deputy head of health Alan Lofthouse said that the report “points at a deeper malaise in the NHS,” saying: “Morale is down and it’s worrying that staff feel less confident raising issues and that those concerns would be addressed.

“Health workers’ worries about staffing shortages and the inability to meet all the demands on their time must be listened to and acted upon.

“A dramatic cultural shift is needed in the NHS or the service will lose experienced people who won’t put up with being treated so poorly.”

Danny Mortimer of NHS England said: “These figures paint a deeply worrying picture of the abuse our hardworking NHS staff face. Staff safety and wellbeing is paramount and we want everyone experiencing any kind of unwanted incident to feel confident enough to report it.”