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image captionStaff have been subjected to 1,747 incidents since the first UK lockdown, according to SWASFT
Assaults and abuse against ambulance staff at an NHS trust have increased by a third in the past year, figures show.
Staff at South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) have been subjected to 1,747 incidents since the first UK lockdown.
The trust said the abuse, which included 322 physical assaults, equated to almost five incidents per day.
Mike Jones, a paramedic who works to try to reduce violence against staff, said offenders would be prosecuted.
The service, which covers Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, said the 1,747 incidents that were reported between March 2020 to March 2021 represented a 33% increase on the previous 12 months.
Thugs who attack South Western Ambulance Service staff face prosecution
Nearly 2,000 incidents of violence and aggression against paramedics and technicians have been reported in just the 12 months after the first lockdown
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