Our employees come to work to care for others, and it is important that all members of the public and our staff are treated with respect. We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. The Practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff is treated in an abusive or violent way.

In line with the rest of the NHS, and to ensure this is fully observed we have a Zero Tolerance policy, whereby aggressive or violent behaviour towards our staff will not be tolerated under any circumstances. The policy states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused.

If a patient is violent or abusive, they will be asked to stop. If they persist, we may exercise our right to take action to have them removed, immediately if necessary, from our list of patients.

Anyone giving verbal abuse to members of staff will be sent a letter from the Practice stating that their behaviour will not be tolerated and may result in removal from the Practice patient list. There will be no appeal process. Any incident of threatening, abusive or violent behaviour may be reported to the local Police Service as part of the NHS Zero Tolerance campaign. We hope that you will understand and welcome this Policy which is in place for the best interests of our hard working staff as well as all the patients we serve. Please note that any non-observance will not be accepted.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:

• Verbal abuse
• Physical violence
• Racial abuse
• Sexual harassment
• Physical damage to property

Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot.

To support this policy all phone calls are recorded and CCTV is in use.