Terrified nurses had to wrestle a gun from a patient on a Midland hospital ward, it was claimed last night. And in a separate incident, police were called when another patient was found with a knife at the Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The Royal College of Nursing has called for better security for hospital staff at a time when violence and crime are major issues for the NHS. At present, security guards are employed at Accident and Emergency departments but not in mental health hospitals, where many violent patients are treated. And the psychiatric patients were not searched before they are admitted to wards, leaving doctors and nurses at risk. A member of staff at the psychiatric hospital told how one patient had produced a gun. "We managed to restrain him, hold him down and disarm him," she said. "But it was extremely frightening. "Then, last week, another patient produced a knife on a ward. He was fairly aggressive while we were moving him from one ward to another. The police were called and eight officers arrived very quickly. "I don't think he was particularly dangerous, but this is the sort of thing we have to face all the time. "These are vulnerable patients, who are often extremely disturbed, and we are trained to deal with them. But sometimes I think security is put at risk." The hospital, on the same site as the main Queen Elizabeth Hospital near Birmingham University, has seven wards which treat a range of psychiatric illnesses and acute mental health illnesses. Four of the wards are for acute patients, with facilities to accommodate more than 90 long-term patients. Some of the patients have lived at the hospital for over two years and are free to come and go. Ann Leedham-Smith, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Nurses are at risk wherever they work. But I think in big urban areas like Birmingham you do need better security, such as security guards for hospital staff. "Trusts need to look at this issue very seriously. There are presently no security guards at any Mental Health Units, yet there is provision for them in Accident and Emergency. "If someone produces a gun or a knife on a ward, it is incredibly frightening but you can't legislate against it. "There are no body searches done when patients come in. You would need legislation for that - otherwise it would be an infringement of human rights." A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "Police did attend a call from hospital staff on November 1. "The gentleman in question was being moved from one ward to another and staff felt the need to call the police as a precaution. "A Swiss Army knife was found on him by police but there was no police offence in the end." A spokeswoman for the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust refused to comment on the allegations without 'further information'. Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that staff at a Liverpool hospital are being trained as special constables in a bid to combat violence on the wards. In the first initiative of its kind, a number of employees at University Hospital Aintree will patrol the site as volunteer officers in their spare time. The move has been welcomed by the Government as another weapon in the fight to reduce attacks on medical staff. More than 84,000 incidents of violence or aggression towards health workers were recorded nationally last year - a rise of 13 per cent on the previous 12 months, according to Unison. emily_andrews@mrn.co.uk | 
