Figures suggest that nearly a third of NHS staff at the Wye Valley Trust experienced bullying, harassment or abuse from patients last year.

Responses to the latest NHS Staff Survey show that 31% of workers at the Wye Valley NHS Trust said they had experienced bullying, harassment or abuse from patients, relatives or members of the public in 2017.

A further 26% said they had been verbally abused or harassed by a fellow member of staff. Around 1,500 employees responded to the survey, which also asked workers about incidents of physical violence at work.

One in six respondents said that they had experienced physical violence from patients, relatives or members of the public.

Healthcare workers union Unison said that anyone threatening or abusing NHS staff “should be prosecuted”.

Head of health Sara Gorton said: “No one should be abused, threatened or attacked at work - especially when all they’re trying to do is help people.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has introduced the first NHS Violence Reduction Strategy, a series of measures designed to safeguard NHS workers against deliberate attacks and abuse.

Mr Hancock said it was “unacceptable” health workers had been subjected to violence and aggression.

The Department for Health and Social Care said that the NHS was partnering with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute offenders quickly under a “zero-tolerance” approach.

The Care Quality Commission will be scrutinising individual trusts based on their plans to reduce violence against staff and identify those that need further help to protect their employees.

The DHSC also said that a new system for recording assaults, and other incidents of abuse or harassment. Trusts will be expected to investigate incidents thoroughly.

He said that staff will also be provided with better training to deal with violent situations, and mental health support will be made available for victims of assault and abuse.

He said: “I have made it my personal mission to ensure NHS staff feel safe and secure at work and the new violence reduction strategy will be a key strand of that.”

The plans follow the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act earlier this year, which doubled the maximum prison sentence for assaulting an emergency worker from six months to a year.

Finances at The Wye Valley NHS Trust are also facing considerable strain owing to the number of false alarms, more than once a fortnight on average.

Figures from NHS Digital show the Fire and Rescue Service were called out to false alarms 31 times in the 12 months to March.

According to the National Fire Chiefs Council, false alarms are a growing problem which cause thousands of lost staff hours and they could cause complacency towards what could be real alarms.

Sara Gorton, from the health workers union UNISON, said it was ‘yet another example’ of underfunding in the NHS.See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.