Christchurch Hospital security will be reviewed as figures reveal that there have been more than 500 attacks on Canterbury health workers in each of the past two years.
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) staff were subjected to 670 physical assaults – often alcohol-fuelled and ranging from touching to punching – in the 2008-09 financial year. Assaults have also topped 500 so far this financial year.
Hundreds of verbal assaults are also recorded each year.
Health board chairman Alister James said the numbers were "very concerning".
He spent six hours in Christchurch Hospital's emergency department on a Saturday night last year and saw two attempted assaults.
Alcohol played a major role and patients were often apologetic when they sobered up, he said.
Most health workers were women who had to bear the brunt of patients' aggressive behaviour, James said.
"It's a major issue for our hospital. In light of recent figures, we need to take another look at this."
He said the hospital employed security guards, but attacks were difficult to prevent as they were often impulsive.
"It's an issue that's very hard to manage, but maybe we have to reflect on current security arrangements and maybe we need to discuss the issue with police."
James said he had been told by staff that most attacks were not reported to police because of the time involved in making a statement and possibly appearing in court.
Emergency department specialist Scott Pearson said recent assaults included a doctor being kicked in the chest by a patient and another being punched.
He said alcohol was often a factor in attacks and that verbal abuse occurred daily and was now seen as almost part of the job and not often reported.
Aggressive patients who needed urgent medical care were treated, but those with minor problems were turned away, Pearson said.
The hospital did what it could to protect staff, but change needed to come from the public.
"If we can have a further detailed look at this, that would be fantastic," he said.
Christchurch Hospital Medical Staff Association president Ruth Spearing said doctors' ability to prescribe drugs made them targets for addicts.
One patient said Spearing and her family would be "taken care of by his bros" when she refused to prescribe morphine.
A man had later followed her daughter home from school, prompting the CDHB to post security guards around her house.
"It really can be horrendous," she said.
St John district operations manager Tony Dowell said ambulance staff had experienced an increase in assaults nationwide.