MORE than 3,600 NHS staff were physically attacked or abused in the eastern region in just one year - sparking calls for harsher punishments for those responsible.
MORE than 3,600 NHS staff were physically attacked or abused in the eastern region in just one year - sparking calls for harsher punishments for those responsible.
New figures reveal 2,508 staff were physically assaulted in the former Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area in 2005/2006. This compares with a 2,343 the previous year - a jump of seven per cent.
And experts fear the numbers may be far higher because many staff don't report incidents.
Yvonne Cleary, secretary of the Suffolk branch of Unison, said: “We want tougher penalties for perpetrators. As well as criminal action being taken they should look at threatening to withdraw services from the patients concerned.”
Neil McKay, chief executive of East of England Strategic Health Authority, said tougher penalties were currently being drawn up.
He said: “Any violence or abuse against NHS staff is a disgrace. We entirely agree that these figures are completely unacceptable, as is any single attack against any member of NHS staff.
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