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NHS Grampian has formed a new steering group to tackle violence and aggression against staff.

A meeting of the board heard how workers faced members of the public venting their frustration, and behaving in a verbally aggressive and sometimes violent manner.

The group will bring specialists from across the organisation together.

They will look at where violence and aggression is most prevalent, and work to reduce it.

The health board's employee director Rachael Little said aggression against staff was often the result of "expectations that they are trying to manage".

She said: "Obviously there are times where frustration is building and unfortunately they're at the end where they're experiencing certainly the verbal aggression.

"We have noticed a slight increase at the moment.

"We are looking to try and analyse the figures more so we get a greater understanding of where there might be hotspots across the organisation."