Verbal abuse suffered by Great Western Hospital staff has escalated in recent months, according to figures released by the trust.

They show there has been an 11 per cent rise over the past year.

Incidents of patients physically abusing staff have also been reported. According to the latest NHS Staff Survey, one in ten GWH workers has been subject to physical violence from patients.

A number of them stem from people waiting for long periods in the emergency department and the urgent treatment centre.

And some of the incidents involve people who refuse to wear a face mask in the hospital and have taken their anger out on staff.

The clinical commissioning group that covers Swindon has reported similar incidents towards staff and volunteers at vaccination sites.

Gill May, director of nursing and quality at Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG told Radio Wiltshire: “I urge everyone to be patient. Please do not take it out on our staff.

“We are seeing some behaviours to our staff and volunteers supporting these sites to run smoothly.

“Be kind, they are doing their best but we do understand the frustration.

“It is verbal aggression and it’s actually not just verbal aggression which is incredibly sad," she said. “They’re disruptive and when you have people waiting in queues and seeing that, it’s very unsettling. It only takes one.

“We’re reliant on that workforce to keep us going and make that offer to the end of January.

A GWH spokeswoman said: “Unfortunately, our staff are experiencing verbal and physical abuse from patients.

“Our zero tolerance policy against abuse towards staff is made clear in our ‘Never OK’ campaign and our staff have 24/7 access to a variety of mental health and wellbeing support should they need it, including counselling and psychological support.

“We also work closely with our health and safety team, security and the police when necessary.

“This behaviour only comes from a small minority of people, but has increased in recent months – particularly from those who are waiting a long time to be seen in the emergency department or urgent treatment centre, or from people refusing to wear a face mask in hospital.

“Healthcare workers often bear the brunt of emotive and high pressure situations, with many people believing that lashing out in the heat of the moment can often be justified," she said.

“We would like to remind people to be kind and considerate to our staff, and we thank those who continue to support us.”

The NHS Staff Survey shows that one in three workers at GWH have experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or visitors.

The most exposed members of staff now have personal panic alarms while a security team patrols the hospital at all times.