IT IS extremely disturbing to see the significant increase in attacks on health professionals in the course of their day-to-day work which is reported today.

Violence and verbal abuse against NHS staff is an issue the Telegraph & Argus has long campaigned about, and it did seem that reported incidents were gradually falling.

However, today’s figures show increases in all the district’s health trusts, and very large increases for some of them, including a 131 per cent rise in attacks on Bradford Care Trust staff and a 42 per cent increase for the trust which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary.

These are attacks on workers whose job is to care for patients, and who often face difficult and distressing conditions anyway without the added threat of violence thrown in.

Hospital staff are often overworked and under-resourced, and do their best to cope with the influx of patients and families at their busiest times. Everyone will be attended to, but a degree of patience must be exercised even by those who feel their particular need is greater than anyone else’s.

Patients and their families are also often under stress and pressure when in such situations, but it has to be made clear that there can be no excuse for physical or verbal abuse of those simply doing their best to help them.

The full force of the law must be brought to bear against anyone who does this, with prosecutions brought whenever necessary.

And when that happens, the courts must then hand out the strongest possible penalties to send a message that this sort of crime against caring professionals will not be tolerated.