Practice staff should get self-defence training to prepare them for attacks by patients or members of the public, doctors have stated.

The training should be routinely available to all clinical staff, the British Medical Conference decided yesterday. The proposal was part of a package to tackle the rising tide of abuse against health workers and practice staff.

Doctors from the North East of England called for stiffer sentences for those who attack healthcare workers. They also warned of malicious complaints and called for support for healthcare workers who are the victims of slanderous or malicious complaints.

Delegates voted to back the call that the BMA should recognise the “damage inflicted on healthcare workers by abusive patients and relatives, and malicious complaints.”

The conference also voted for a 30% earnings increase for GPs and other doctors. Delegates called for medical pay to be restored to 2017 levels, meaning, it was claimed, a 30% pay increase.