Limitations placed on practices by infection prevention and control measures, combined with the release of pent-up demand for GP services and misinformation about the Covid vaccination campaign have resulted in increasing abuse of practice staff by patients.
At Londonwide LMCs we are supporting practices by raising public awareness about the difficulties GPs face and calling for a more respectful and collaborative approach to receiving care from patients.
Last month we got The Guardian to cover abuse of practice staff in relation to the vaccination campaign and this month we released this video. If you or your colleagues are experiencing abuse from patients, please tell us about it via info@lmc.org.uk, we can then use it to build up a picture of the pressures on practices and push for more to be done about the issue. If your practice is struggling with issues such as promptly de-registering a violent patient, we may also be able to help escalate and resolve the problem.
The following organisations are also campaigning on behalf of GPs and practice teams.