WARRINGTON Hospital has backed a national campaign aimed at reducing the number of attacks on staff.

The hospital's trust is backing a new partnership between the NHS and the association of chief police to crackdown on hospital violence.

Every incident will be investigated under the commitment.

Chris Todd, the trust's new security manager, said the priority was the safety of staff and patients.

He added: "We have already met with our local police beat manager and community support officers to discuss how we can address this issue.

"The trust will not tolerate abusive physical and verbal behaviour from patients or relatives toward any of our staff.

"We keep a thorough record of all incidents and will be tracking the progress of any of the matters through the criminal justice system "Any staff member who is attacked will receive a personal visit from me, which will help us gather evidence and will also focus on providing support for the people involved."