We are sorry to report that this Tuesday, October 5, a serious incident took place at The Village Surgery, Lostock Hall, in which a member of our reception staff was subjected to a physical assault.
A group of local teenagers have been persistently abusing our staff at this site in particular, and after speaking with local residents I believe this particular group of youths are well known in the area for similar abuse to the residents, especially the elderly.
I am in contact with the authorities and local CCTV units and we are seeking out any information any residents may have on this group as this abuse simply has to stop now.
We have, in common with all other NHS establishments, a zero tolerance policy to verbal and physical abuse of staff, and we feel very strongly that our staff should be able to go about their work without having to suffer such abuse.
Further, we are disappointed to report that this is not the first incident of abuse that our staff at the Lostock Hall surgery, and indeed many other regional and national surgeries have suffered recently. Sadly, it appears that such incidents are on the increase across the UK with incidents targeted to NHS employees, both admin and clinical.
As a practice manager, with a long career within the NHS, I have never experienced such volumes of abuse, both verbal and physical towards our NHS employees. Since the start of COVID-19 in March 2020 we have seen the abuse rise dramatically with regular abuse posted on social media platforms, along with daily face-to-face intimidation and abusive calls towards all members of our practice teams I regularly have to console my employees after experiencing unacceptable abuse. The ‘clap for the NHS’ was short lived and now a distant memory in comparison to how we are now subjected to daily verbal and physical abuse nationally.
With a view to protect my employees in a patient-friendly way, I am left with no alternative but to lock our surgery doors from 6pm until closing time.
Our telephones will remain open as normal and patients are welcome to come to surgery as normal for appointments.
However, any footfall for general inquiries will be done via our surgery door telecom system. I have also employed security for all sites to protect the employees and patients.
Our staff are there to help you and are trained to assist you in every way possible, so I appeal to all our patients to please show respect and kindness to our staff at all times.
We thank you in anticipation of your help and understanding on this difficult issue.
Aimee Clay
Practice Manager
N M Health Innovations