The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the 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.
The Practice considers threatening behaviour to be either:-
- attempted or actual, aggressive threatening physical actions (including fist clenching and finger pointing) made towards any member of staff or other users of the Health Centre
or
- the use of aggressive or abusive verbal language, (including raising of the voice, swearing and cursing) intended to threaten or intimidate any member of Staff or other users of the Health Centre.
or
- Any behaviour, verbal or physical, which causes others to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or threatened, is totally unacceptable.