Violence against the borough's hospital staff is among the highest in the country, with almost one in seven workers saying they've been attacked by patients or visitors in the last year.

Almost a third of workers also complain of suffering harassment, bullying or abuse over that same period.

Staff at South Tyneside's Primary Care Trust (PCT) say they have suffered too – but at the hands of workplace bullies, with more than one in five staff experiencing harassment or bullying from colleagues.

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NHS report - the facts and figures

The report, by the Healthcare Com-mission, rates job satisfaction at both Trusts as below the national average.

The foundation Trust, one of 175 acute trusts in England, is responsible for South Tyneside District Hospital in South Shields and Palmer Community, Primrose Hill and Monkton Hall hospitals in Jarrow.

South Tyneside PCT is the driving force behind the borough's general healthcare, and its main responsibility is the running of GPs' surgeries. There are 152 PCTs in England.

Today, union bosses and Trust executives said the report raised serious concerns, and demanded that more be done to tackle the issues highlighted.

Liz Twist, of the public sector union Unison, said: "This kind of survey is really important in getting a true picture of how staff are feeling about the NHS and particular aspects of work.

"In some areas, we've seen many positives from both Trusts, but the findings on harassment and violence at work are a serious concern.

"Workers should not have to fear violence and abuse just to carry out their everyday tasks. Trusts have attempted to tackle these problems, but they need to step up their game to stamp violence and bullying out altogether."

The Healthcare Commission surveyed staff from Trusts across England.

It found that staff working for the borough's PCT are among the unhappiest in the country when it comes to job satisfaction, and are more likely than employees elsewhere in England to be looking to leave their jobs.

Ten per cent of staff don't report serious errors they've encountered at work, while handwashing frequency is also below average.

However, harmful errors encountered by staff are among the lowest in the country, and employees say they feel that they're not under intense pressure.

Health and safety also scored top marks, and job-relevant training was rated better than average.

At the foundation Trust, health and safety training was found to be good, and the number of staff hoping to leave was lower than average.

Ian Frame, executive director of personnel at the foundation Trust, branded patient attacks on staff unacceptable and promised to continue a crackdown.

He also said that poor scores for appraisals were due to a re-structuring of the system.

He said: "We note that we continue to have occasional acts of violence and harassment against staff by patients and visitors, this is unacceptable to us and we continue to look for ways of reducing this, including supporting staff in prosecuting offenders.

"Staff satisfaction overall is just about average, and we score better than most Trusts in terms of staff indicating their intention to leave their jobs.

"We always find the survey useful, and we will be sitting down with staff and their representatives to look at ways of improving our overall satisfaction rates.

"The questionnaires were completed only a short time after we launched a programme of staff satisfaction initiatives.

"We would expect them to have made some impact by next October, hopefully resulting in even better scores."

A spokesman for the PCT added: "One key area highlighted relates to staff views about workplace bullying.

"This is a major area of concern for the PCT, and to tackle these issues we are about to launch our newly developed harassment and bullying policy, which will ensure staff are supported to raise any
specific concerns they may have.

"Positive findings within the survey highlight the strength of line-manager support for staff and the effectiveness of ongoing actions towards developing a culture where violence and harassment of our staff won't be tolerated."