Arson, sexual assault, fraud and possession of a knife are among the hundreds of crimes to have been investigated at hospitals across Sussex.

New figures show Sussex Police are called out to the county's hospitals on an average six times a week to deal with alleged offences ranging from theft and criminal damage to actual bodily harm and possession of drugs.

Doctors and nurses on the front line as well as patients and visitors are among the victims of crime.

Unions warn the actual figure could be higher because staff don't always report all cases where they are attacked or verbally abused.

There were 148 incidents reported at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton over a 16 month period including four cases of possessing drugs, 19 assaults without injury, six actual bodily harm and 20 reports of a person causing public fear, alarm or distress.

There was also one report of racial or religious abuse, one forgery of a prescription and more than 70 cases of theft.

Pete Croxford from the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust branch of Unison said: “Obviously one of our main concerns is the assaults or abuse faced by our nursing staff on the front line who are just trying to do their job in difficult circumstances.

“It is a subject that comes up a lot at meetings and it is a pity that hospitals have to invest in extra security or protection because of what a minority of people do.

“The actual number of cases of assault could be higher because there is a chance some people may not report them and that is something we keep a close eye on..

“We can also understand concerns from patients and visitors who have been victims of theft as they would hope their property would be safe when being in a hospital.”

Across the rest of the county there were 55 reports at Worthing Hospital including one for sexual assault and a report of someone with an obscene publication or sexual material.

There were 71 incidents at Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH) including a sexual assault, sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder, six cases of actual bodily harm and one case of harassment.

Among the 64 reports at the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards were one case of arson, four cases of drug possession and two for possession of a knife.

The Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath reported 27 investigations including one case of fraud and three cases of ABH.

At St Richard's Hospital in Chichester there were 38 reports of crime including one sexual assault, possession of a knife and three cases of fraud.

Other examples of crimes reported across the county included criminal damage to a building or to a car, theft from a car and harassment.

The high level of crime was criticised by Peter Adams from the Patient Action Group in Sussex.

He said: “People will not be happy about these figures because when they go into hospital as a patient or visitor they do not expect to be a victim of crime.”

Ian Tait, director of facilities at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, which runs the Royal Sussex and Princess Royal among others, said: “ The trust totals around 100,000 square metres of accommodation and the Royal Sussex alone is scattered over an area of approximately one square mile.

“Each year we treat over half a million patients and with them come countless friends, relations and visitors.

“The size of our hospitals coupled with the volume of people that come through the doors make a level of criminal activity inevitable.

"We do work very hard with our local police force to prevent criminal activity in our hospitals where possible, and to tackle the perpetrators.

“For example, we have over 200 CCTV cameras on the Royal Sussex site.

“These are in use and monitored 24 hours a day and connected to our local police headquarters so when necessary we can refer the police directly to a specific camera.

“We also have our own security patrols 24 hours a day and police presence in our A&E departments in the evenings and on the weekends."

A spokesman for East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the DGH and the Conquest, said: “The trust has an internal and national reporting system to allow staff to report any crime within our hospitals.

“We have a team of trained local security management specialists who work alongside the police to investigate any reported crime and to analyse any patterns of crime.

“We also have a 24-hour security guard service which responds to all incidents within the trust."

A spokeswoman for Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Worthing and St Richard's, said: “The trust's priority is the safety and well being of our patients and staff.

“We take every incident very seriously, investigating each one thoroughly and taking police action when necessary.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said they would deal “robustly” with any offenders.

He added: “Aside from the sort of minor offences that you might expect in any large building open to the public 24/7, there are those involving assaults on staff, members of the public and security personnel and we will work with partners in the health services to ensure that these are robustly dealt with and that offenders are brought to justice.”