Bradford's hospital bosses have welcomed tough new measures to crack down on violence against NHS staff.

People who abuse or threaten staff will face fines of up to £1,000 under new proposals.

One-in-four of NHS medical staff have suffered swearing, harassment, bullying or threats from patients and their relatives, said the Department of Health. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt today gave details of the new "zero tolerance" approach to the problem at a conference of the GMB union in Nottingham.

She said: "We want to send a clear message to the public that this will not be tolerated and anyone who threatens or verbally abuses our staff will be removed from the premises and could face a fine of up to £1,000." The zero tolerance approach is one championed by the Telegraph & Argus End the Abuse campaign which was launched to highlight the disturbing levels of attacks and abuse suffered by health workers in the district.

Since the campaign was launched, Bradford Teaching Hospitals has reported a decrease in attacks on staff at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital.

A Trust spokesman said it welcomed any initiative designed to curb violence. He said: "Not only does this send out a tough message to those who perpetrate violence, it also encourages staff to continue to report instances of physical and verbal abuse.

"We continue to work in partnership with the police and the NHS's own security experts on a number of initiatives and recently we have seen a slight decrease in the number of serious incidents reported. We are pleased with the continued support from the T&A, in particular the End the Abuse campaign, which is playing a prominent role in supporting NHS staff and raising awareness amongst the people of Bradford."

The most recent Healthcare Commission staff survey reported that 14 per cent of NHS staff were physically attacked in 2004. A further 27 per cent of staff reported being bullied or harassed by patients or relatives.

The results represented a reduction from 15 per cent and 28 per cent respectively the previous year.

Since the establishment of the NHS Security Management Service in 2003 there had been a 15-fold increase in the number S prosecuted for attacking staff, said the Department of Health.