LONDON - Mental health staff in the UK are working in a “powder keg” environment, as assaults by patients soar, a BBC investigation has revealed. Figures obtained by 5 live Investigates show there were more than 42,000 reported attacks on staff in 2016-17 in the mental health trusts who responded. The figure is more than a quarter higher than for the corresponding trusts four years earlier. Health bosses say violence on NHS staff is “completely unacceptable”.