A shocking campaign of violence is being waged on hospital staff by patients in Redbridge, the Guardian can reveal.

Members of staff have been stabbed, punched, kicked and even attacked with zimmer frames over the last two years, according to hospital records seen exclusively by this paper.

In one case, a drunk man attacked a ward assistant with a syringe, while in another case a patient grabbed another bed-ridden patient by the neck, before doing the same again to THREE members of staff as they tried to restrain him.

In all, 118 physical attacks and 172 verbal incidents against staff were reported between July 2007 and July 2008 at King George Hospital.

And hospital officials admit the levels of abuse could be much higher, as much of it goes unreported.

In one horrifying case in October 2006, staff feared for the safety of a sick baby when one of its relatives attempted to remove it from a ward. The unnamed person managed to grab the child from the arms of doctors, before lashing out at staff.

According to the records, staff managed to recover the baby, while police and hospital security arrived to remove the relative.

The baby was then “examined for any injury following the incident,” the records add.

In other cases, nurses have been threatened with bread knives, reception staff have been left “traumatised” by abusive visitors, staff have had to clean out spit from their mouths and eyes after attacks from patients, and in October last year a doctor was so fearful for his safety he had to lock himself in a room because he was so afraid of getting attacked.

In most incidents, police or security staff arrived quickly on the scene to help staff - but this has not always been the case.

In October 2007 police “refused to attend” after a security guard was punched by an “aggressive patient on drugs” while in July of this year a member of staff tried to activate a security alarm after a abusive relative began threatening them - only to discover the button was “not working”.

According to the latest statistics, 55,993 NHS staff were physically assaulted in England last year, a rise of 284 from the year before.

Karen Jennings, UNISON Head of Health, said that the figures were "shameful."

She added: "What sort of injury do we have to wait for before tough action is taken against violent offenders? Health care workers are four times more likely to be the victims of assault than any other workers.

“Many of these assaults are preventable and the NHS needs to look at a raft of measures and new ways of working to protect staff."

A spokesman for Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals Trust said officials were doing all they could to make sure their staff were safe.

He said: “The number of incidents reported is expected in an organisation of this kind and we are taking action to tackle this.

“Our hard-working staff have the right to work in a safe and unthreatening environment – but many front-line workers have to deal with abuse on a daily basis.

"Verbal abuse in particular is often not reported as staff are sadly used to being sworn and shouted at.

“Of course feelings often run high in hospitals, with patients and their relatives worried and upset. While this is taken into consideration, many incidents of abuse are unjustifiable and inexcusable.

“Our staff have regular conflict resolution training to help them deal with difficult situations. We also operate a strict zero tolerance policy, with consistently abusive patients and visitors being told that, if their behaviour continues, they could ultimately be refused treatment – although this is not something that the Trust would wish to happen.

“A working group looks at new ways to protect and support our staff and we would ask all of our patients and visitors to appreciate that our staff are doing everything they possibly can to provide the best possible care.

He added: "Please think before you act, and give them the space and support to carry out their job.”