‘ZERO TOLERANCE’
This Practice takes it very seriously if a member of our Staff, Doctors or Nurse is treated in an abusive or violent way.
This Practice supports the governments ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that their staff have the 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 aim to be polite, helpful and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances.
They would respectfully remind patients that are very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult task and situations, all at the same time. The staff understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.
However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will NOT be tolerated and may result in you being removed from our practice list and, in extreme cases the police being contacted.
In order for this practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and to take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:
- Using bad language or swearing at practice staff
- Any physical violence towards and 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
- Causing damage/stealing from the practice’s premises, staff or patients
- Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently
We ask that you treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times
Removal from the practice list.
The removal of patients from out list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient – practice relationship. We value and respect good patient doctor relationships based on mutual respect and trust. When trust has irretrievably broken downs, the practice will consider all factors before removing a patient from their list, and communicate to them that is in the patient’s best interest that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is in the case of immediate removal of the grounds of violence e.g., when the police are involved.
Removing other members of the household.
In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family. This is practically likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.