Zero Tolerance Policy

 

< Back to policies & procedures

Please treat our staff as you would like to be treated – with courtesy and respect.

We know patients often feel unwell or unhappy when they visit us and that this can result in expressions of anger to the staff. While we fully understand this, it can nevertheless make it more difficult for us to help you.

Please do your best to keep calm and for our part we will do our very best to help you.

The NHS operate a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the Practice has the right to remove violent patients from their list with immediate effect, in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person's safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.

Important

Where patients are disruptive and display aggressive and/or intimidating behaviour and refuse to leave the premises, staff are instructed to dial 999 for Police assistance, and charges may then be brought against these individuals.

Social Media Zero Tolerance

Please consider the impact of your online activity before you post a comment.

Following online activity where patients of GP surgeries have posted derogatory comments about practices and some of their staff; we now have a Social Media Zero Tolerance Policy in place.

Important

If any such activity is brought to our attention they could be viewed as a potential breakdown in the doctor-patient professional relationship and may result in the individual being removed from our list.

We may contact the patients involved and invite them to have a discussion with the practice manager or one of the GP Partners to explore any issues they may have.

We welcome all feedback as it gives us the opportunity to review the services that we provide and, where necessary or appropriate, make changes or improvements. But ee would ask that rather than posting derogatory or hurtful comments about the practice or any of our staff on social media, please speak to us about this or put your comments to us in writing giving us the opportunity to respond.  Posting derogatory or offensive comments online can cause unwarranted distress to our practice members and staff.

They may also cause other patients to delay or dissuade them from presenting to the surgery to received medical treatment.