Staff get ‘aggressive verbal abuse’ over strike cancellations

A hospital trust has said its staff have been verbally abused when contacting some patients to postpone their appointments because of next week’s nursing strike.

Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust posted a statement to its website yesterday, which said: “It is very regrettable that we have to report that our staff have been verbally abused when contacting some patients to postpone their appointments. We fully understand and appreciate how disappointing and frustrating any postponement is, and we only do this if we absolutely have to in order to provide safe care for all our patients.

“Our staff are doing their best in challenging circumstances to make sure you are informed as soon as possible. We do not tolerate abuse of our staff and abuse will be noted and further action may be taken.”

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Source: HSJ, 27 April 2023