The NHS operate a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the Practice has the right to remove voilent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard Practice staff, patients and other persons.

This Policy is for the protection of all NHS staff but also for the protection of other patients, their families, visitors, etc.

In order to ensure that this zero tolerance approach is adhered to, it is essential to have robust policies and procedures in place. In General Practice, this will need to cover a variety of situations in which incidents could occur. Generally speaking the majority of patients behave in acceptable or manageable ways, however the incidence of excessively aggressive or violent attacks in the GP practice is increasing.

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.