TWO doctors or nurses are physically attacked while working at the Royal Bolton Hospital every month.

The latest statistics reveal 58 medical staff were punched, kicked or spat at by violent patients during 2007.

In the same period, between January and December last year, there were 15 verbal assaults made against staff.

That compares to 48 physical attacks on workers between March, 2005, and April, 2006.

Harry Hanley, branch secretary of Unison, the biggest staff union at the hospital, said: "Hospital's are caring environments where people are often at their most vulnerable and those that seek to undermine this should be dealt with in an appropriate fashion.

"We will not tolerate any form of violent towards staff, patients or visitors and will continue to work with the Trust in stamping it out, full stop."

Assaults can range from confused or elderly patients becoming confused and lashing out at staff, to drunken louts attacking staff in accident and emergency.

Heather Edwards, head of communications at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said: "Although we record all reported incidents of verbal and physical assaults, we do recognise that same of them are because patients are confused or disturbed, maybe because of their illness or medication.

"More worrying, however, are incidents when people become angry and deliberately take it out verbally or physically on the staff. This is quite unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the hospital."

Hospital bosses have been working with the police to drive down the number of violent attacks on both staff and patients.

The Royal Bolton Hospital was the first place in the country to take part in a pilot scheme, which saw extra police officers drafted into accident and emergency and hand out £80 on-the-spot fines to anyone behaving in a violent or anti-social way.

The scheme lasted between November, 2006, and February, last year, and was re-introduced over the festive period.

But chairman of Bolton's health scrutiny committee, Cllr Andy Morgan, wants to see more done to reduce the violence towards staff.

He said: "The work the hospital and the police have put in place doesn't seem to have worked as the number of attacks are not falling, so this needs to be re-examined.

"Any attack on NHS staff is unacceptable and the full force of the law should be thrown at these people."