About 300 staff at a health trust have suffered violence or aggression in the last six months, hospital bosses say.

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Trust (UHBW) said they are working with police on 37 active criminal investigations, with a further 29 cases already being prosecuted.

They said two victim support officers had been employed to help staff.

Emma Wood, UHBW chief people officer, said it was important that staff felt confident to report incidents.

More than half of the reports (58%) are from the trust's medicine division, which includes the Bristol Royal Infirmary emergency department.This is followed by 17% at Weston General Hospital, 11% in the surgery division and 6% in women's and children's services.

Speaking at the trust's board meeting on 18 April, Ms Wood said: "Incidents of verbal or physical abuse can have a devastating impact on the hardworking staff who experience them."

She said while it was "very unusual" for the organisation to take so many alleged perpetrators to court, it was important that staff felt incidents would be taken seriously, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service."We know that there will be occasions when patients become confused or stressed in unfamiliar environments which can lead to challenging behaviour - and staff are trained to deal with this."But there are also many incidents where people are simply abusive, and this is not okay," she added.

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