A UNION representing half of the 12,000 staff at Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust says too many people are getting away with assaulting parmedics and nurses.

Last week a 32-year-old woman was jailed for four months for punching, kicking and spitting at nurses at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, as they tried to help her.

Samantha Jefferies, of Coulson Close, Newport, pleaded guilty before Newport magistrates to three charges of unlawfully assaulting or beating another.

Unison says this is one of only "a handful" of cases that come to court, while thousands of others have gone unprosecuted.

A 2005 survey showed that one in six NHS Wales staff has been threatened or physically assaulted while carrying out their duties.

Dave Galligan, health spokesman for Unison in Wales, said: "This case has hit the headlines because a custodial sentence has been handed out, but there are thousands of similar incidents and only a handful of those are prosecuted."

Mr Galligan said that, although the NHS can't be responsible for the actions of everyone who enters a hospital, it should pursue more prosecutions for assaults on its staff.

"The police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the NHS could all be doing more than they are at the moment," he said.

John Griffiths, Newport East AM, says he has made numerous visits to the A&E department in the Royal Gwent on Friday and Saturday nights and has seen the "challenging" behaviour that frontline workers face. He supports Unison's call for a tougher approach.

"There are a lot of patients who are the worse for wear from alcohol or drug use and when they aren't seen quickly they become aggressive," he said.

"There's a great deal of support for a zero tolerance approach for assaults on public servants.

"The courts take a very stern view of anyone who assaults a public servant while carrying out his or her duties.

"If more prosecutions take place, hopefully the message will get across that this behaviour will not be tolerated."

A spokesman for Gwent Healthcare Trust said: "We will not tolerate any form of aggression when nurses and doctors are simply trying to do their job, and we will always prosecute those who threaten or intimidate any member of staff."