ATTACKS on doctors and nurses working for Dorset HealthCare have halved in the past four years.

A spokesperson for the company has reassured patients and staff after Nicky Scopes, 41, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order on Friday, August 26 after knifing Sister Karen Royles twice in the arm at Victoria Hospital in Wimborne last December.

Scopes, of East Borough, Wimborne, suffers with mental health problems, including paranoid schizophrenia.

Ms Royles did not suffer life-threatening or life-changing injuries in the attack.

A spokesman for Dorset HealthCare said: “The safety and wellbeing of our staff is of paramount importance.

"They work hard every day to treat and care for patients, and should be able to carry out their duties without fear of attack.

“Thankfully, such incidents are declining.

"The number of recorded assaults on Dorset HealthCare staff has more than halved over the past four years, which is the biggest reduction at any NHS organisation in the country.

"We have a dedicated security team which has introduced a number of measures to help tackle this issue, including new staff training programmes, and we also have regular liaison meetings with Dorset Police.

“However, the vast majority of patients and other members of the public are well-behaved and respectful towards our staff.”