THOUSANDS of healthcare staff in Greater Glasgow and Clyde have suffered physical or verbal abuse over the past year.

Shocking new figures show 2170 were physically assaulted by patients, 682 were threatened with violence and 717 suffered verbal abuse.

That is despite a concerted and ongoing campaign to combat aggression towards NHS staff.

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The new figures show a drop from 4400 recorded incidents the previous year to 3600 this year but health chiefs and staff representatives remain concerned at the high levels of abuse towards staff at work.

The health board says violence and aggression are a serious factor for healthcare workers and hope highlighting the issue will help reduce the number of incidents.

Anne MacPherson, director of human resources, said: "Despite us introducing a range of measures to protect our staff we are unfortunately still seeing incidents of both physical and verbal abuse.

"In some instances, staff have required support from Police Scotland because of the danger to their own and patients' wellbeing and that is unacceptable.

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"As a board, we are committed to reducing and deterring such incidents as well as ensuring staff are trained to deal with situations when they do arise.

"We must do all we can to protect the delivery of healthcare 24-hours a day, seven days a week and enable staff to fulfil their duties without fear of abuse or assault."

Charge nurse Teresa Grainger who is based at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital has experienced firsthand what it is like to be verbally abused by patients and in some cases their families.

She said: "My colleagues and I are all too aware from personal experience what it is like to deal with an aggressive situation.

"But now having had violence and aggression training and our teamwork within the ward, we feel more able to deal with difficult situations effectively and efficiently.

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"Thanks to the strong team working within the ward and a plan of action in place, situations are calmly dealt with."

Keith Fleming, head of health and safety, said NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has a policy which states staff are entitled to work free of threats and intimidation.

He added: "We take any act of physical or verbal abuse very seriously. Where staff are assaulted or abused while at work, whether in our hospitals or in the community, we fully support them and encourage them to pursue their abusers through the criminal justice system."