I despair for society

HelterSkelter1

The patient should have been "expelled " from the GP list immediately. Surgery staff are not paid or even paid enough to put up with such abuse.
This justnwpuld not have happened years back. But sadly it is a sign of the times we now live in when everything is a drama of Eastenders or Coronation st proportiojs or at the lowest level of Tik Tok etc.
They obviously were not aware that if you have D and V you shouldnt rock up at a Gzp surgery and give it to everyone else. But I doubt in the circumstances the patient wasnill atball.

Sympathies to your sister.

I worked in several GP surgeries during the 1970s and 80s and although such incidents were rare, verbally and physically violent episodes occurred several times and the patients were removed from the list.

There had some patients that were so awful that they were taken off available GPs' lists so often that they eventually found their way back to their original GP and the whole process started again.

I am very sorry to have to say it is nothing new.

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I was in my GP surgery a few months ago and a woman was berating the poor receptionist because she wanted her to make an appointment for a scan or MRI. The receptionist kept her cool and tried to explain that isn't how the system works. She could make an appointment for her to see a doctor tom start the ball rolling. This woman just would not listen. She talked over the receptionist the whole time, claiming it was her human right to have a scan or MRI when she wanted one. I worked in a face to face job in the NHS before retirement. The vast majority of people are lovely but every now and then................

Do sorry to hear that your sister was subjected to this, Donna.
It was remiss of her managers not to call the police on this person, as you can see from the posts here, an offence was being committed.
I hope that the actual patient received a written warning about not bringing her friend with her. Persistent bad behaviour could lead to her being removed from the practice.
On a local FB page there was a complaint from a person who had been removed from a list, and was unable to find another practice with space.
I was pleased to note that the bad behaviour which led to this was shared publicly, and no sympathy whatsoever was offered to the doctorless chap.

Wyllow3

Yes Graphite and thats why the CCTV =the right way forward.

However, there are more people presenting as desperate/violent than there used to be. This is a big societal problem not easily addressed.

I agree. There seem to be so many really angry/desperate people prepared to go off like a hand grenade in public. I saw a woman get on the bus and loudly abuse the driver when he said she didn’t have the right ticket. She held up a queue of people waiting to get on and in the end he asked her how far she was going, when she said two stops he just let her on, she swore lustily to anyone who would listen about her bus ticket until thankfully she got off. No bus driver should have to put up with that.
It seems to be when a small percentage of people don’t get their own way, they feel entitled to get what they want when they want it.

Do you have code grey calls ? They have them here in hospitals and they trigger a security alert with trained staff coming to assist and escort the person out if needed. It sounds as though some dr surgeries could use them, too. Our local public hospital seems to quite a few of these calls over the loudspeakers. Some pretty disgusting people around.

My surgery has a written policy

"The X surgery operates a strict NHS "zero tolerance" policy regarding any form of violent, disruptive, or abusive behavior towards receptionists and practice staff.

The specific actions taken under this policy include:

Immediate Warnings or Removal: Any form of physical violence, threatened violence, or verbal abuse that causes staff to fear for their safety will not be tolerated.

The practice has the right to issue a formal warning or remove disruptive individuals from their patient list with immediate effect.Police Involvement:

In severe cases of physical aggression or threatening behavior, the practice will summon the police.

Written Notice: If you are removed from the practice list, you will be notified in writing, and the incident will be recorded in your medical records

Yes Graphite and thats why the CCTV =the right way forward.

However, there are more people presenting as desperate/violent than there used to be. This is a big societal problem not easily addressed.

I expect there will come a time when we have to have a security person at the surgery which will cost the practice dearly. Unless employed directly by the NHS and rotating with security staff at hospitals.

I don't despair about it but it makes me sad. It is a reflection of people not taking responsibility for themselves in the UK

And a sense of "entitlement" in areas which are frankly not appropriate at all. - I don't know enough to compare many countries - I know it is unlikely to happen in Germany, where there is a greater sense of public order.

As regards doctors surgeries, ours will definitely know when they are dealing with someone who is ^genuinely disturbed MH wise or suddenly desperate about a loved one, as opposed to the description in the O/P, and are dealt with accordingly.

The sounds like an offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

5. Harassment, alarm or distress.

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if (s)he—

(a) uses threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour ...

within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.

The penalty is a £1,000 fine.

The practice manager should report the matter to the police. If there is CCTV evidence all the better.

The woman’s outburst means she could be joining her friend in court.

I do not usually use public transport as I can’t access it easily but twice recently I have when with family.
The behaviour I saw left me amazed on both occasions.
On one people trying to fare dodge but the other was so upsetting, two children aged about 12/ 13 abusing and insulting other ordinary passengers.
I really did then despair about society.

I was answering, "is there CCTV" in surgeries"

Yes, some do. Mine does. It is in a pretty safe area but the management is very good at staff support indeed.

The practice manager should have been called in immediately as in B9exchange's post.

However it was the patients friend not the patient -who knows who really was to blame if the patient was actually very vulnerable?

I also checked out the legal situation

"Yes, the police can prosecute individuals for threatening behaviour in a doctors' surgery. Threatening, abusive, or violent behaviour towards NHS staff is a criminal offence, and a prosecution can be pursued regardless of whether the surgery operates a "zero tolerance" policy"

Public order act, Offences agains the person act.

To be fair there are faults in the system… having made two journeys to my friend’s gp with power of attorney proof a year ago, I was told that it hadn’t been registered on the system. It was enough to make me very cross but I confined myself to ending the call and sending an email.

Don't despair for society. These people are the exception.

Do GP surgeries have CCTV?

Not acceptable. Hope the person was barred.

Practice manager should have been called as soon as the abuse started and taken patient and sister out of the reception area to a private office. There it should have been explained to them that abuse to staff would not be tolerated and any further episodes could result in removal from the list. Practice manager should then have spoken kindly to your sister and asked if she was all right. I should know, I used to be a practice manager! If your sister is not getting the support she needs, then perhaps it is time to change practices?

Excuse the typos. Fat finger small keyboard

The patient should have been "expelled " from the GP list immediately. Surgery staff are not paid or even paid enough to put up with such abuse.
This justnwpuld not have happened years back. But sadly it is a sign of the times we now live in when everything is a drama of Eastenders or Coronation st proportiojs or at the lowest level of Tik Tok etc.
They obviously were not aware that if you have D and V you shouldnt rock up at a Gzp surgery and give it to everyone else. But I doubt in the circumstances the patient wasnill atball.

Sympathies to your sister.