The documentary series A+E After Dark returns for its seventh series on Thursday night on 5 Star, according to the show's producers. The new season is filmed inside the A+E departments of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Newham Hospital in East London, and Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, as reported by the production team. NHS England reports a three-year peak in violence against staff, with nearly 1 in 7 NHS workers physically assaulted by patients or the public last year, according to official statistics. An unprecedented number of NHS staff were subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour, sharply increasing to nearly 1 in 3 ambulance workers, NHS England data shows. Additionally, 9% of NHS staff reported experiencing discrimination, the highest level ever recorded, per NHS England figures.
The opening episode shows shocking racist abuse towards an A+E nurse in Newham, attempts to save a stabbing victim and their attacker in Norwich, and four injured young men involved in a 70mph collision during wet weather in Belfast, based on episode previews. In a chilling first look clip at the collision in Belfast, it sees four young men rushed into the department following a high impact car crash at 70mph, according to the show's footage. A+E After Dark captures the relentless reality of night-time emergency care across the UK, following dedicated teams in Belfast, Newham and Norwich as they combat fatigue, overcrowding and escalating violence to save lives, as described by the series. The specific date of the stabbing incident in Norwich shown in the episode has not been disclosed, nor have the identities of the stabbing victim and attacker. The outcome of the attempts to save them remains unknown, as do the specific details of the racist abuse incident towards the A+E nurse in Newham and the full extent of injuries sustained by the four young men in the Belfast car crash.