Violent or abusive behaviour

 Warley Road Surgery has zero tolerance towards such behaviour and is committed to reducing the risk to staff and other patients resulting from such behaviour. The HSE provides a definition of violence in the workplace in its guidance titled How employers can protect workers from violence and aggression at work.

While for staff, the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 details the legalisation that supports those who work in general practice, Section 3 (1) (j) (ii) defines an emergency worker. Should violent or abusive behaviour be directed towards a patient or visitor, then ordinarily further action will be taken, including reporting the incident to the police as appropriate.

Inappropriate behaviour

 Inappropriate behaviour is defined as being unacceptable if:

 ·         It is unwanted by the recipient

 ·         It has the purpose or effect of violating the recipient’s dignity and/or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment

Inappropriate behaviour does not have to be face-to-face and may take other forms including written, telephone or e-mail communications or through social media. This is covered in the organisation’s Patient Social Media and Acceptable Use Policy.

What constitutes inappropriate or unreasonable behaviour could be viewed as a subjective matter. Therefore, to ensure objectivity and prior to any further actions being taken, incidents of inappropriate behaviour will be discussed with a member of the senior management team.

 Any person, be they staff, visitor or service user, who encounters unreasonable behaviour will be fully supported by senior management with a standardised approach being taken.

 Unreasonable behaviour

There are many reasons why a patient’s behaviour may become unreasonable, including substance misuse, should they be scared, anxious or distressed, or if they are frustrated, unwell or in pain. As a result of this, staff may experience patients who are either demanding, unwilling to listen and/or uncooperative.

There are several factors associated with difficult and challenging interactions with patients, such as a lack of resources, waiting times and interruptions during consultations. For these reasons, the ‘demanding’ or ‘difficult’ patient can potentially consume a large amount of the clinician’s and manager’s time.

 It should be noted that unreasonable behaviour may be directed at patients and visitors in addition to staff. A standardised approach is to be adopted to manage any episode of poor behaviour.