VIOLENCE and aggression against staff at the hospitals serving Gloucestershire has almost doubled in four years, according to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Standard.

Almost 560 incidents were recorded in the last financial year, compared to 316 in 2009/10, the Standard can reveal.

More than 400 of the victims were members of staff, 136 were patients and 12 were visitors.

Police were called to 131 incidents at hospitals in the county over the last financial year, compared to just 82 in Wiltshire over the same time period.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust was unable to say how many prosecutions have resulted from violence, aggression or intimidation, in each of the last five financial years as "this information is not held".

The trust was also unable to tell the Standard how many of the perpetrators of violence, or intimidation, in each of the last five financial years, were staff, patients or visitors.

But the trust confirmed that not one patient had been refused treatment or care, or warned they may be refused treatment or care because of their behaviour, in each of the last five financial years.

The trust says the increase in the number of incidents is because staff are encouraged to report all episodes, "no matter how minor the incident".

A Gloucestershire Hospitals spokesman said: “The vast majority of these figures are not physical or intentional, rather as a consequence of illness such as confusion or dementia.

“We treat violence and aggression seriously at all times and we have clear processes and extensive training in place to prevent such incidents."

He added: “We also have escalation systems that enable us to deal with people who abuse our staff verbally or physically, and we work in partnership with local police to manage this problem.”

Of the 134 actual assaults in the last year, which range from actual physical injury to personal discomfort, only 12 were malicious assaults and the remaining were illness-related.

The trust's assaults rate in 2012/13 was 19 per 1000 staff, compared to a national average of 21 per 1000 staff.