Deter rents not enough

Dear Editor,

It would seem that current deterrents are not working after reading your story last week about NHS staff being assaulted, attacked and abused (NHS staff are under attack, June 6).

Quite why anybody would want to assault a nurse or doctor in a hospital when they are trying to help that individual or their friend or relative is beyond me.

But this sort of behaviour simply cannot go unpunished and maybe it is time the courts handed out tougher sentences to those deemed guilty of causing trouble in wards or at A&E.

NHS staff have enough to do without being subjected to violence, physical or verbal, from ungrateful yobs. Name and address supplied