A doctor in London survived a horrifying hospital attack after police say he was stabbed by a patient armed with a large knife.
The stabbing happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning at Hillingdon Hospital in west London.
According to police, officers were already at the hospital responding to a separate incident in the emergency department when they were alerted to the stabbing around 2:40 a.m.
That timing may have saved the doctor from even worse injuries.
A source told the outlet that the doctor was “very lucky” police were already on the scene when the attack unfolded.
“The police managed to bring the knifeman under control,” the source said. “They were heroes.”
The doctor, described as a man in his 50s, was treated at the hospital after the attack. Police said his injuries were not considered life-threatening or life-changing.
A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm.
“A man has been arrested after a doctor was stabbed at Hillingdon Hospital,” a spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said.
“Police officers, who were at the hospital following a separate report, responded at around 2.40hrs on Tuesday, 26 May after a man stabbed a doctor,” the statement continued.
The attack left hospital staff shaken.
A spokesperson for The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the hospital is continuing to support and reassure employees after the incident.
“The safety and well-being of our staff is our highest priority and any form of violence or aggression towards our teams is unacceptable,” the spokesperson said.
The stabbing also comes amid growing concern over attacks on health care workers in the United Kingdom.
According to data from 89 NHS trusts in England, cases of violence against hospital staff nearly doubled in the five years leading up to 2024, rising from 2,093 in 2019 to 4,054.
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the numbers point to a frightening reality for medical workers.
“Behind these shocking figures lies an ugly truth,” Ranger said.
“Dedicated and hard-working nursing staff face rising violent attacks because of systemic failures that are no fault of their own,” she added.
Police are asking anyone with information about the stabbing to contact authorities.