Our Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aims to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances.

The aim of this policy is to tackle the increasing problem of violence against staff working in the NHS and ensures that doctors and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. Our Staff has the right to be treated with dignity and respect at all times. They should be able to do their jobs without being PHYSICALLY or VERBALLY ABUSED. Most people respect this. Anyone found abusing the staff in person or on the telephone will be asked to leave the practice. This behaviour will NOT be tolerated.

We expect all patients to be responsible and avoid attending the surgery under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:

• Using bad language or swearing at practice staff/patients
• Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving
• Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff
• Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
• Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot
• Making sure all our patients irrespective of their sexual orientation for example: gender identity or trans status,lesbian, gay, bisexual or homosexual are given equal treatment and respect as any other patient would get
• Inappropriate use of language sometimes dismissed as “harmless banter/negative remarks/disrespectful remarks/prejudiced attitude”, in relation to being homophobic, biphobia or transphobic will strictly be not tolerated on the Practices premises
• Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
• Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently

We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times.

All incidents will be followed up and the patient will be sent a formal warning or removed from the practice list if his/her behaviour has been unreasonable. We will have no hesitation in having the patient removed from the building by the police should his/her behaviour warrant it.

Removal from the practice list

The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the practice, that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.