The Kindness Matters initiative highlights the vital role that kindness plays in ensuring a safe and caring environment for both patients and staff.

Led by the trust's Equality Diversity and Inclusion Team and the nurse- and AHP-led council, the campaign is championed through images across the hospital, which share personal stories from NHS staff who have been victims of verbal and physical abuse.

The most recent NHS Staff Survey revealed that more than 30% of the trust's 4,800 staff had personally experienced harassment, bullying or abuse at work from patients, service users, their relatives or other members of the public in past year.

Figures also indicated that almost 20% of staff had experienced physical violence, with security teams attending more than 3,500 incidents at Croydon University Hospital during the same period, equating to at least 10 incidents every day.

Matthew Kershaw, chief executive at Croydon Health Services and the borough's Place Based Leader for Health, said: ‘This campaign is a call for patients, their loved ones and the wider public to remember that kindness matters when using our services. We are simply asking people to treat our teams with the respect they deserve - no one should come to work in fear of violence or harassment.

‘We're committed to ensuring our staff feel safe, valued, and respected, and encourage them to report any incidents as soon as possible to allow us to take appropriate action, including the consideration of withdrawing care from those displaying inappropriate behaviour. These actions often impact our staff emotionally, so we also offer a range of wellbeing support to those who have been subject to any violence or abuse.'