Stafford: Ambulance call handler tells of death threats

People in Staffordshire are being urged to respect ambulance call handlers who say they have been verbally abused and threatened

An ambulance service call handler who has received death threats while on duty says he is concerned abuse from the public is getting worse.

Dan, from Stafford, who did not want to give his surname, said a patient threatened to find his workplace and kill him.

Other call handlers have been sworn at and threatened with rape, health bosses in Staffordshire confirmed.

Police are investigating.

The NHS in Staffordshire has launched a campaign called "Together Against Abuse" to ask people to be respectful to medical staff.

The patient in Dan's case became abusive when phoning to ask when an ambulance would be arriving.

"The violence within his voice, it was scary," Dan said.

"He did threaten to kill me, he did say he thought he knew where we roughly worked and he was going to come and try and find us."

He added he had seen an increase in abuse over the past couple of months as pressure increased on the NHS.

Dan said "it's always in the back of your mind" that abusive callers would "come and start looking for us".

One woman who also works as a call handler in Stafford said in one case, a patient swore at her, threatened to rape her family and kill her.

The threats have been called "despicable" by Supt Mark Ward from Staffordshire Police, who said they came at a time when the NHS had been under huge pressure due to Covid-19.

"Attacks on emergency services workers will never be tolerated and those responsible will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," he added.

In November, workers at GP surgeries in Staffordshire revealed they have also been sworn at and threatened with violence.