Hospital staff have become victims of abuse, with the latest figures showing there were 1148 assaults against healthcare staff in 2013.
They are being punched, spat on, bitten, verbally abused, and kicked on a daily basis, the data shows.
Auckland hospital emergency department doctor Tom Mulholland has been a victim of abuse and joined Paul Henry this morning.
"It’s certainly verbal abuse, pushing and all sorts. You have to restrain people who are off their chops on something, normally methamphetamine. It’s more that nurses really cop it a lot, even in general practise people get abused from angry patients."
Watch the full interview with Tom Mulholland.
