| Abusive Behaviour Towards NHS Staff |
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| Contributed by Cjay | ||
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Everywhere you go whether it be to your local hospital or your GPs surgery, or your local medical centre, you are likely to see notices stating that anyone being aggressive, violent or intimidating towards staff will be asked to leave and may not be treated. At first glance you might think fair enough, why should anyone have to put up with that when all they are trying to do is to earn an honest crust, but hang on, what about the way they treat you? There is no comeback for you if that member of staff is rude to you. Yes, you can make a complaint, but in reality how many people actually would take the time to write a letter of complaint and then follow it through. Surely we as patients should be entitled to the same courtesy and friendly manner that we are expected to show them. There is no need for anyone to be verbally abusive and most definitely not violent, but unfortunately in this day and age it is something that everyone has to learn to deal with as part of every day life. These people are ‘on the front line’ and when they accepted a job dealing with the public they knew that they would be in the firing line for any abuse. Unfortunately, and I’ve seen this many times, staff leave themselves wide open for abuse because of the way they treat their patients. When people are kept waiting they get bored, agitated, frustrated and that leads to frayed tempers. You are left sitting there not knowing what is going on and no one makes the effort to inform you why you are still waiting 20 minutes after your appointment time. When the member of staff then breaches all the confidentiality rules and regulations and shouts about your medical condition across the waiting room, you can understand why people do get embarrassed and that in turn leads to them losing their cool. If a fraught situation is dealt with by a cool, calm member of staff, it usually will not develop into a torrent of abuse. A lot of aggravation towards staff comes because the people behind the desk don’t know their job. I know we can’t all know everything, but if you don’t know, go find out. There is nothing worse if you are unwell and you come face to face with a stroppy receptionist, who thinks she is better than you are just because she is on the other side of the desk. If they don’t like being there doing that job, then why did they apply for the job and why are they still there. If your local health board is failing to meet the criteria and policies and procedures set down by the government you should ask for the name and address of the general manager of your particular Local Health Care Co-operative. You should write a letter of complaint and follow it through. Remember through paying your National Insurance and Tax you are paying their wages! Only registered users can write comments.
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