Give me prescription or I'll kill you, nurse told

Staff at a GP surgery were left in tears and forced to call police after incidents in which angry patients threatened them and acted violently.

Nurse consultant Dr Jennifer Loke, who works at the practice in East Yorkshire, said she was forced to press a panic button when one patient started moving towards her, saying, "If you don't give me that prescription, I'm going to kill you".

Humberside Police has received 411 reports of abuse towards GP staff in the region since 2019. Although most were verbal, the force investigated assaults, a kidnapping and six death threats.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said it knew current pressures could make it harder for patients to get care, but no one should go to work fearing abuse.

Among the death threats was one made towards Dr Loke – an academic doctor who works as a nurse consultant.

Dr Loke said she was not frightened by the incident, but abuse took its toll.

"It's stressful enough to work in a surgery because you have to cope with a lot of complex issues and you need to maintain your cool with patients who are anxious and depressed," she said.

"And yet you have all this in the background, so it's quite distressing."

Most of the patients she saw were "good", but attitudes had changed because of an "on-demand" and consumer culture.

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Source: BBC News, 25 November 2024