More than 230 ambulance staff in the West Midlands reported being either physically or verbally attacked in just six months, according to new figures.

Bosses today branded the statistics as “shameful” and said all staff would receive conflict resolution training in the coming year to help them handle potentially dangerous situations.

The new figures have been issued by the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service. They show that between April and September last year the West Midlands Ambulance Service was rated second worst area in the country for category of assaults per 1,000 staff. The top score in the league of shame went to London.

The actual number of assaults recorded has fallen slightly on the same period last year, though. Physical assaults declined from 94 to 80 while the number of verbal assaults dropped from 172 to 151.

Health chiefs have praised the fact that the West Midlands has the highest rate of any ambulance service in securing convictions for the attackers.

West Midlands Ambulance Service chief executive, Anthony Marsh, said: “These figures are shameful. It is abhorrent that ambulance staff, who are responding to help people who have serious medical conditions or injuries, should have to face violence and verbal abuse. I find it sickening.

“It is pleasing to note that in about a third of cases, some level of sanction is taken against the assailant. This could be a custodial sentence, a caution or some other form of action by the courts.”

Mr Marsh said the trust had a zero tolerance policy in place. “We work extremely hard to bring the full weight of the law to bear on anyone who attacks our staff.

“It is simply not acceptable that staff who are there to help people suffer at the hands of patients, their relatives or other people at the scene.

“Although all staff will receive conflict resolution training in the coming year, at the end of the day, they should not need it. I think we can all agree it would be much better if we could spend the time and money on more clinical skills.”

Figures out last month showed nearly 4,000 ambulance staff have been assaulted in England in the last three years. Some 1,240 were physically attacked in 2008-9, 1,465 in 2007-8 and 1,006 in 2006-7.

Figures released in April 2008 showed one in 10 NHS staff had been been violently assaulted by patients or their relatives, according to a study carried out by the Healthcare Commission.

It also found that paramedics were under constant risk of attack, with 31 per cent of staff reporting cases of assault by patients.