The number of recorded assaults on staff at Medway Maritime Hospital almost doubled in the last year – more than 10 times the national average increase.

NHS Protect has published data on the number of reported physical assaults against NHS staff across England in 2013/14, including paramedics, hospital workers and community nurses.

During the 12-month period, 116 staff at Medway NHS Foundation Trust were assaulted. This compares with 68 the previous year.

Andrew Travers, branch secretary of Unison union, which represents staff at the hospital, fears numbers will continue to rise.

He said: “The staff face verbal as well as physical abuse, which isn’t included in the figures. It is sad to know the staff have to face any kind of abuse.

“The security at Medway do a good job, but they can’t be everywhere. I fear the situation is going to get worse.

"There is extra pressure on A&E and on staff levels and it leads to longer waiting times. Of course, that’s when people can get frustrated and it can lead to violence.”

Last month the CQC revealed after another inspection that the hospital was still failing to meeting waiting time targets, with 10 incidents in the last 12 months of people waiting more than 24 hours.

Of the 116 assaults in 2013/14, 70 did not involve medical factors – an increase of 42 compared with 2012/13.

Medical factors are considered to be when the person did not know what they were doing because of illness or mental health.

In 2012/13, 40 involved medical factors and 28 did not.

Richard Hampton from NHS Protect, which tackles crime across the health service, said: “No NHS staff should be physically assaulted and we encourage staff who are victims of violence to press charges.

“No NHS staff should be physically assaulted" - Richard Hampton, NHS Protect

“Those who work in the NHS have the right to provide care in a safe environment. Employers must do all they can to support staff in preventing incidents and pursuing offenders.”

There were 45 assaults on employees of Medway Community Healthcare (MCH), which runs St Bart’s hospital and The Wisdom Hospice in Rochester as well as community services.

All but two of these involved medical factors. The figures for MCH are not available for 2012/13.

Across the country, there was a rise of 8.7% in the total reported assaults on NHS staff, from 63,199 in 2012/13 to 68,683 in 2013/14.