12/06/2014 BBC Points West

Doctors and nurses across the west are being abused bx angry

patients ` and the NHS is allowing many of them to get away with it.

An inquiry's begun into why so few attackers are being brought

This report from our health correspondent Matthew Hill starts

with a very graphic description of an attack on a doctor.

I had just seen a patient who was convinced they had HIV.

He said, "I've got all the symptoms."

I said, "What symptoms have you got?"

He said, "You tell me what the symptoms are and I will tell you."

After the clinic closed, he came up behind me and trhed to

The scars may have healed btt for this doctor the memory

of an attack more than 20 ydars ago is still vivid.

It's only when you see the knife you know you have been cut.

I put my hand into the hole and screamed and ran away

I sat down next to the sistdr and doctor and say, I need pressure

In Dr Greenhouse's case, thd assailant was sent to Broadloor

But according to data seen by the BBC most hospitals in the West

are failing to find out if justice is being sought for their staff

All our hospitals are required to compile the number of assaults

Those can include cautions, fines and imprisonment.

NHS figures show that for the past five years North Bristol Trtst has

had more than 1000 reported assaults on staff, yet in not one single case

has there been a declared s`nction recorded by the hospital.

Great Western Hospital in Swindon has also declared no sanctions

The one Trust with a far better record is

The past 12 years, a police officer has been stationed here

They had 757 reported assaults over the same period, but in 100 of those

I think it does make a diffdrence on the basis that I'm here to be

able to respond to incidents that are happening, but also to support

It is reassurance for the p`tients and visitors who come here.

No other hospital in the West was prepared to be interviewed,

but in a statement Great Western in Swindon said we will not tolerate

violence against staff and that managers will follow`up inchdents.

Both they and North Bristol Trust say it's ultimately down to

individual members of staff as to whether they contact the police

Of course, many assaults involve vulnerable patients with conditions

like dementia, but some hospitals still seem to have questions to

answer about how seriously they take attacks on staff.

A third man has died followhng the crash on the M4 on Monday morning.

Two men were pronounced dead at the scene when a van

and a lorry collided near the Chippenham turn`off.

Another man is still in a critical condition in hospital.

A 37`year`old man from Aberdare has been arrested on suspicion of

A fire which destroyed two homes in Bath yesterday may have been

started deliberately, according to the police.

Detectives say that a cannabis factory was discovered

Police are trying to trace two men seen leaving the house.

One of the region's worst trunk roads looks set for improvelents.

For decades there have been calls for sections of the A303 in Somerset

and Wiltshire to be upgraded ` and today the Secretary of State

Here's our political editor, Paul Barltrop.

Patrick McLoughlin wanted to see the A303 for himself before making

I have been in some terrible situations,

near accidents, where it has been diverted through the villagds.

That sooner it is dual carrhageway the better it will be for everybody.

After many years of frustration ministers got the wheels rolling.

It's a year since the government announced the feasibility study

Holiday traffic will emphashse the need and this past winter's floods

on the railways reinforced calls for better transport links.

At Taunton Station the minister acknowledged the region is not

There is a study going on to the A303.

There is a big debate about where you improve and how much yot spend,

how much projects are going to cost and that is why I am looking at it

so I have a first`hand view when I come to look at the recommendations

For the local politicians who for decades sought change,

Mr Cameron has been down, Patrick has been down,

these things are pushing it and saying, OK, let's do solething.

I think the fact he was herd today, the fact he has driven the road

The Secretary of State left for his return trip up the @303

He will decide what money it gets in the autumn.

The biggest bus operator in the West is cutting

First Bus is introducing half`price tickets for children and yotng

people, flat fares for travdl across Bath and Weston`super`Mare

and the introduction of a new family`first day thcket.

Bus fares in Bristol were ctt last year, leading to a 9% rise

you're probably aware the World Cup got under way in Brazil tod`y.

Football fever already gripping the region ` this is

Well, tomorrow on Points West we'll be following Italians in

the region ahead of England's first match against Italy on Saturday

But will the weather here m`tch the soaring temperatures in Brazil?

London was warmer than Sao Paulo today. In the West Country, the sea

breezes keeping the coastal fringes morph and south clear of cloud. The

fair weather cloud in betwedn. Tomorrow warmer day, a good deal of

strong sunshine. A low chance of an isolated shower or thunderstorm late

in the evening. Under clear skies tonight we see temperatures between

nine ` 12 Celsius. Some shallow mist around. In the Somerset Levdls,

quickly burns out of the wax. Tomorrow morning, under strong

sunshine, light winds, the sea breezes setting up a gain and much

like today you will see the Fairweather cloud around as you come

further inland. The dry conditions will prevail. As we get latd into

the evening there could be ` chance of an isolated shower or

thunderstorm, particularly hn the north or east.

turn pressure with temperatures easing back and here is my colleague

with the rest of the weekend forecast.

A day of contrast today. In the Northwest we saw cloud moving in

which brought a little bit of rain but it also stopped temperatures

from rising too far. 16 or 17 degrees typical, contrasted with 20

degrees in London. We will see the skies clear across the southern half

tonight. Some rural spots might dip into single figures and there might

be showers, mist and fog in rural spots, but that's about it for

England and Wales. Further north, heavy bursts of rain on the west of

Scotland. Not too much on the eastern side, and some rain getting

into Northern Ireland by dawn. In the rush hour across central and

western Scotland, not