NHS Borders has revealed that there were more than 400 assaults on nurses in the Borders last year.
The figures for 2018/19 show there were 172 attacks on NHS staff at Borders General Hospital and 162 in the area's mental health units, with a further 89 in community settings and 56 on support services.
And on seven occasions weapons were involved.
The figures released under Freedom of Information show that 416 of the attacks were on either nurses or midwives.
A further 33 incidents involved auxilliary nurses, eight on charge nurses, and three on doctors.
During 2018/19 there were also 10 assaults on security staff and five on domestics and porters.
Almost all of the incidents involved physical aggression by patients, while 13 were regarded as improper sexual behaviour.
A spokeswoman for NHS Borders told us: "NHS Borders staff have a right to be able to perform their duties without fear of aggressive, abusive or violent acts.
"Whenever an incident of assault occurs, it is recorded and fully investigated.
"Staff affected by assaults are given appropriate support but quite frankly it is just unacceptable that this can happen to people trying to help and working in the NHS or anywhere."
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