Ms Linda Kelly:

The gendered aspect needs further analysis. Most of our members are also women. Ms Chambers mentioned earlier the level of aggression that is now coming at clerical administrative staff. It would be remiss to only focus on emergency departments. It is a particular pinch point but we see it across all different areas of the health service. For our members working in social care, in particular, it is a big aspect, or if they are working on children's disability network teams, CDNTs. Physical assault is damaging physically and mentally for staff but verbal abuse can be just as insidious in terms of wearing down their professional identity. They can dread coming into work because they are so afraid of the insults they are going to get across the desk, over the phone, by email or on social media from people using their service. There is no escape from it. Whatever way they come to their job, whatever route they took to get there, people take pride in their professional identity. All of us experience that from our members. They made a decision to work in the health service and want to provide a good-quality service in whatever way they contribute. Their professional identity is called into question and abused on every shift or every day; it is certainly every week. That is demoralising for people. They do not see any support coming to scaffold them in that or buttress them. That is the problem from the employer. The employer viewpoint on it is, to be frank, "Put up with it. That is just the way it is. That is the health service, that is social care, that is disability, that is EDs, that is whatever". I do not think that should be acceptable.