A wall of CCTV screens at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, where 1,007 incidents were recorded
A security control room with multiple CCTV monitors displaying live camera feeds from inside and outside a building. Handheld radios and a desk telephone sit on a workstation in the foreground beneath a wall of surveillance screens.
Security incidents at Shropshire's main hospitals have risen by more than 37% in a year, with staff facing aggression, threats and abuse as demand for support increases.
A total of 2,669 incidents were recorded by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) in 2025-26 , an average of seven a day.
Royal Shrewsbury Hospital accounted for 1,627 incidents, more than four a day, while Princess Royal Hospital in Telford recorded 1,007. A further 12 were reported at Hollinswood House, where patients have blood tests.
The total compares with 1,946 incidents in 2024-25 and 1,603 in the previous year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
However, the trust said the number of cases involving moderate or greater harm had fallen, crediting the skills of staff and security teams.
Group chief operating officer Ned Hobbs said the trust had a zero-tolerance policy towards violence, aggression, harassment and anti-social behaviour.
He said: "All our staff, patients and visitors using our sites have the right to do so in an environment where they feel safe and secure."
A woman wearing blue scrubs stood in a hospital corridor looking directly into the camera. She has a serious expression. The background is slightly blurred.
Hobbs said the increase in reported incidents reflected both growing demand for security support and staff being more aware of how to seek help when situations escalated or risks were identified.
Staff receive training in preventing and de-escalating confrontations and are encouraged to report incidents, he added.
Most incidents involved aggressive behaviour by service users, including cases involving patients with dementia or medication-related issues classed as unintentional.
The number of incidents involving intentional or inexcusable violence and aggression rose from 201 to 207 over the past two years.
The report also recorded 840 occasions when staff feared a situation could escalate. These were managed using techniques including de-escalation and, where necessary, rapid tranquillisation.
Security staff used restraint methods 978 times across the two acute hospital sites.
Other incidents included 40 cases of property damage and 26 alleged thefts among 820 non-aggression incidents. Reported behaviour ranged from spitting and verbal threats to racial abuse and other discriminatory or insulting remarks.
The trust said it issued warning letters to persistent offenders and pursued cases through the courts. Recent cases included threats to stab staff and racially abusive remarks accompanied by threats of harm.
Despite the overall rise, the report said recorded incidents involving aggression remained below the national average and well below levels at NHS trusts reporting the worst experiences.
An NHS worker has a lanyard on reading 'Pinnacle' and a black body camera on. They have two white pens in their uniform pocket.
Two long bladed, curved knives on a table top with a tape measure alongside them.
Generic image of the chest of a doctor in blue scrubs with a stethoscope and a blue NHS lanyard round their neck, holding a buff folder of medical notes under their left arm
