Nearly nine in ten GPs have faced verbal abuse in the last year

GPs have warned that the extent of verbal abuse directed at them and their practice staff ‘is increasing’, with the majority reporting that things are worse now than during the height of the Covid pandemic.

A UK-wide survey of more than 2,000 doctors – of which 617 were GPs – found that 85% of GPs have reported receiving verbal abuse from patients within the last 12 months.

The research conducted by Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) also found that 15% of GPs reporting verbal abuse said they ‘had to resort to involving the police’ to deal with abusive patient situations over the past year.

In the survey, GPs identified key triggers such as ‘lack of access to a face-to-face consultation’ and ‘complaints about their quality of care’ as the factors that could escalate to verbal abuse.

One GP who responded to the survey said: "During a consultation with a young adult, they got very irate and demanded I just give them what they came for.

"I explained they had to calm down and we would only proceed then at which they called me an ugly, fat, c**t and threatened to smash my face in. That consultation stayed with me for quite a while after that."

Another said: ‘A patient smashed the surgery front door (it needed replacing) because he didn’t get what he wanted when he wanted it.

"This was very scary for staff and other patients and the police didn’t even come until the next day. I felt alone, defensive and wondered why we bother to try to provide a service when some patients have already decided it isn’t good enough for them."

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Source: Pulse, 7 December 2023