Poll shows 2 in 5 GPs face verbal abuse on a daily basis

Two in five GPs are facing verbal abuse every single day, a new poll suggests.

Some 74% of family doctors have claimed they or their staff have experienced verbal abuse on a weekly basis, including almost 40% who say it occurs daily, according to the survey conducted by GP publication Pulse. And 45% said practice staff experience physical abuse every year, according to the poll of 1000 GPs.

As well as facing abuse in GP surgeries, a third reported practice staff have faced abuse on social media on a weekly basis.

The Royal College of GPs described the survey findings as deeply disturbing.

One GP told the journal: "Last week a patient, without any mitigating circumstances, was desperately abusive to one of my receptionists bemoaning the fact it wasn’t the US where she could buy a gun and 'sort us all out'.

"Primary care seems to be bearing the brunt and blamed by all and sundry for the current issues and the public are picking up on this."

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Source: Medscape, 19 January 2023