Soaring levels of abuse across Bradford hospitals have been cut by shorter waiting times, it was revealed today.

Violent incidents in Bradford Royal Infirmary's accident and emergency department have been slashed from 37 a month to seven thanks to new Government targets, introduced to reduce the amount of time patients have to wait before treatment.

The announcement came after the Telegraph & Argus revealed more than 400 staff at BRI and St Luke's Hospital had suffered violence and abuse in the last six months.

But in A&E a £7,000 improvement scheme has seen abuse cases drop following a waiting room facelift and the introduction of a four-hour target.

A&E matron Terry Wood said the new measures, implemented following a patient-led project, had significantly improved behaviour in the department.

He said: "People used to have to wait overnight or up to 12 hours to see a doctor but that's now a thing of the past.

"The reduction in waiting time means you've got less people getting frustrated and the nurses on the assessment desk have certainly noticed less aggression and frustration from patients asking how much longer they are going to be."

He said redesigning the waiting area, including new lighting and better patient information via a plasma screen, had also improved behaviour.

"Some patients are likely to get frustrated when there is a lack of information because they don't know why they have to wait or how we prioritise patients," he said.

"People are wondering 'why have they gone in before me' and then go to the nurses and get aggressive.

"But these improvements have certainly reduced the pressure on staff on the desk and has remarkably reduced the number of incidents which is brilliant.

"It certainly makes the job less stressful."

Across the trust as a whole, there are on average 76 incidents of violence or abuse a month.

David Jackson, chief executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals, the NHS trust responsible for Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital, praised the reduction in A&E incidents of abuse and hoped similar measures could be used to cut violence in other areas of the hospital.

He said: "These figures are encouraging and we are determined to build on them.

"We are keen to see if any lessons can be learned from A&E which can be shared with other areas to help reduce the number of incidents across the Trust."