Doctors facing increased abuse from their patients

Medics who have battled coronavirus on the front line for more than a year and a half have faced a torrent of abuse from patients, a new poll suggests

The British Medical Association warned of a “rising level of abuse” towards GPs as it called on the public to be kind to NHS workers.

A new poll from the doctors’ union found that more than a third of doctors have faced “recent abuse” from patients or those accompanying them to appointments.

This was even higher among GPs where half said they had been abused in some way in the last month.

The survey of more than 2,400 doctors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland found:

A total of 37 per cent had been verbally abused by patients, or those accompanying them to appointments, in the past month. This rose to 51 per cent of GPs.

One in five GPs reported being threatened.

Some 34 doctors reported that they had been physically assaulted in the last month.

More than two in five said that they thought instances of threatening behaviour, violence or verbal abuse from patients had increased over the last year.

Doctors reported abuse occurring in a number of places from waiting areas to the consulting room.

Half reported seeing other staff abused by patients in the past year, including nursing staff, receptionists and healthcare assistants.

The survey comes after a warning that the NHS waiting list could rise to 14 million in England alone by autumn next year and continue increasing thereafter.

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