Between April 2006 and the end of March this year, 45 employees were victims of attacks by patients and the public.

Throughout this month specialists will be touring the DGH, Conquest hospital in Hastings and other sites talking to staff and patients about security.

The month-long security awareness campaign aims to develop a pro-security culture within the NHS, to tackle violence and abuse against staff and damage to or theft of property and assets.

Last year's assaults were against less than one per cent of the workforce at East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both the DGH and Conquest.

Assaults on hospital staff have been declining for the past three years, the trust said.

The hospital trust already has in place a number of security initiatives which help tackle violence and abuse against NHS staff and property.

These include CCTV and radio communications and training for all security personnel, effective alarm systems such as movement sensors and personal attack buttons, NHS frontline staff trained in conflict resolution, and a series of measures to protect babies and children in maternity and paediatric units, such as electronic tagging.

Stuart Barnhill, the trust's assistant director of facilities, said, "We are determined to keep our hospital sites safe and secure for patients and staff. "Over the years, too many people have gone unpunished for their crimes against the NHS.

"We now have the skills to investigate and take the appropriate legal action against those who abuse the health service.

"The NHS should be a safe place in which to work and be treated, not a place for antisocial and criminal activity."