Violence against frontline hospital workers in England’s accident-and-emergency departments has almost doubled in five years, according to new data compiled by the Royal College of Nursing. The union said 89 NHS hospital trusts logged 4,054 incidents of physical assault on A&E staff in 2024, compared with 2,093 in 2019. The figures equate to an average of 11 attacks a day, and the true total is likely higher because just 69% of acute trusts supplied data and only for their largest emergency unit. Nurses described being punched, kicked, spat at and threatened with guns or acid, with long waits and overcrowded corridors cited as flashpoints. The rise in violence comes as separate RCN analysis shows 12-hour A&E waits have risen twenty-fold since 2019, intensifying frustration among patients and relatives. Health Secretary Wes Streeting in April pledged mandatory hospital-level reporting of assaults, saying protecting staff "is not an optional extra." The RCN welcomed the commitment but warned that without concrete measures to cut delays and boost staffing, efforts to reform the National Health Service will "fail completely" as employees grow fearful of going to work.