A third of doctors face ‘violence’ at work
More than a third of NHS doctors have experienced violence in the workplace in the last 12 months according to a BMA survey. And the majority of those questioned had witnessed some form of violence in their workplace perpetrated against another member of staff.
Those working in A&E and psychiatry were the most likely to be affected, but on average violence was just as much of a problem for GPs as it was for hospitals doctors.
The majority of those reporting violent incidents had been verbally abused, a third had received threats, and a fifth had suffered actual physical assaults. Patients and their families were reported as being the perpetrators in most cases
But despite the threat to their personal safety, a third of doctors did not take action when they were abused, and many failed to report violent incidents.
Nearly two-thirds of staff did receive some form of support and over half reported that the incident had not affected their work. But the majority of respondents had not received any training about how to deal with violence from patients.
The incidents were often prompted by patient dissatisfaction with the service, and in many cases the offenders had either a history of violence or were intoxicated with drink or drugs.
A third of doctors had considered withholding treatment but a similar proportion did not back such an approach because of the difficult conditions under which patients were being treated, and because of their obligations as clinicians.
Patient groups have also pointed out that in cases such as psychiatry and obstetrics, patients are often in a vulnerable and unusual situation, and can act in an uncharacteristic manner. But Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Paul Burstow described the findings of the survey as “wholly unacceptable” and blamed the Government for not dealing with the problems in A&E in particular.
“The Government has failed to tackle the causes of much of the alcohol-inspired violence. They have delayed the introduction of an alcohol strategy by six years. A strategy which would have reduced problems of alcohol-related violence in A&E.
The BMA recommends that doctors should be encouraged to report violent incidents, and that consistent action should then be taken. It also stressed the importance of training staff to deal with difficult patients.
