By Andy Kerr Minister for Health and Community Care

Mr Kerr says a variety of preventative measures are in place

Attacks on NHS staff and emergency workers are mindless thuggery.

To attack or intimidate those dedicated staff who are trying to help their communities is abhorrent - we simply will not stand for it.

That is why we are raising awareness of individual responsibility, have provided guidance to the NHS and put into practice tough new laws protecting emergency workers.

First of all, we want to stop these attacks happening at all.

In the NHS, we have invested over �700,000 in projects to reduce violence and aggression. For the last two years we have been running national awareness poster and TV campaigns - 'When the Public isn't right' and 'Abusing Workers is Bang out of Order'.

NHS Boards are working on a variety of preventative measures. For example, 'de-escalation training' to help take the heat out of a situation, updating security, CCTV in waiting areas, creating 'lock-down' areas and barriers to ensure patients are kept to public areas.

To speed response time if an incident does occur, there are initiatives like direct hotlines to the police, installation of panic buttons and provision of personal alarms.

'Powerful signal'

Dumfries and Galloway are piloting a 'Tag Pull' system where staff wear a necklace tag with a break point which when broken provides an alert to a central point.

Of course, if a patient is being violent, withdrawal of treatment is a possibility and several boards have introduced this ultimate measure.

Not all abuse of staff is physical and we are acutely aware of the impact frequent verbal abuse can have on workers and their ability to perform at work. We are working to make this as unacceptable as physical abuse.

But we have also recognised the need to provide greater protection in law as well.

The Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act creates new law to protect emergency workers, not just in the NHS, but more generally.

Many assaults on nurses can be put fuelled by alcohol

It provides penalties of up to nine months and �5,000 for anyone assaulting or hindering healthcare workers in a hospital setting or those doing emergency work in the community - GPs, midwifes or nurses, or anyone assisting an emergency worker.

The act sends out a powerful signal that we will not tolerate anything which prevents emergency workers going about their jobs.

However, the executive's work does not end with the NHS. We are working across all sectors to highlight the issue for anyone who serves the public and to encourage workers and their employers to recognise that this is not part of their job and steps can be taken to prevent it.

It remains a sad fact that much of the problem involves excessive drinking.

That is why we are working on that as well, to challenge attitudes to binge drinking through advertising and limits on irresponsible drink promotions.

In the final analysis, while government and the NHS are right to invest time and resources in putting all these measures in place, actions of individuals come down to personal responsibility.

That is why our publicity campaigns have at their heart awareness and education, so that we can make these abhorrent attitudes a thing of the past.

BBC Scotland's Frontline team are making a programme about violence in the workplace. If you have suffered an assault at work, you can contact the programme at helpfrontline@bbc.co.uk with your experiences.