Urban Village Medical Practice fully supports the NHS zero tolerance policy. We have a duty of care for the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and patients and a legal obligation to ensure that we offer a safe and secure work environment.
All of our employees are entitled to come to work without fear of being attacked or abused. We expect all patients and visitors to the building to treat all our staff members courteously and act reasonably.
We understand that when you feel unwell, are in pain or under pressure, it can be difficult to remain calm and we will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.
We consider the following actions or behaviour towards staff or other patients to be unacceptable:
- Physical assault, unwanted physical contact or intentional damage to property
- Any act of discrimination, harassment or threats of violence in person, over the phone or via electronic communication channels, including email and social media
- Verbal abuse
- Theft
- Malicious communications or allegations
- Aggressive tone or body language, including offensive gestures
- Swearing and foul language
- Refusal to engage with certain clinicians or insistence on appointments with specific clinicians without good reason
- Forcing entry or entering areas of the building without being invited to do so
This list is not exhaustive and there may be other occasions where behaviour is deemed to be unacceptable
Depending on the severity of an incident or series of incidents, we may take the following actions:
- A formal written warning to the patient
- A decision that the relationship of trust between the patient and the practice has broken down and the patient will be deducted from our patient list and advised to register with an alternate practice
- In serious cases, the police will be notified and patients will be removed from our patient list immediately