Home » News » 01/06 » UK GPs suffer most abuse

UK GPs suffer most abuse

Date published: 25/01/2006

Doctors in the UK are more likely to suffer verbal or physical attacks than their European counterparts, new figures show. A poll by GP Magazine found that over nine in ten GPs have been shouted or sworn at.

The survey suggests that such verbal abuse is not an isolated incident, with eight in ten doctors saying they had been verbally abused on more than one occasion. This compares to 70 per cent in Spain, 64 per cent in France and 38 per cent in Italy. Moreover, a third of British doctors report having been physically attacked, with many hospitals now choosing to employ security guards.

The report suggests that drug use may be behind the violence, arguing that the UK and France both have the highest incidences of attacks and higher than average rates of cannabis use. However, Laurence Buckman, chair of the BMA's GPs' committee, questioned this conclusion. He argued that drink and a culture of violence was to blame.

"There's something about assaulting people verbally or physically that is British," he said. Mr Buckman added that he had been attacked on two occasions and the perpetrator was drunk in both incidences. A Department of Health spokeswoman reiterated the department's zero-tolerance stance, saying that violence was "completely unacceptable".

As part of the department's efforts to curb violence, the NHS Security Management Service has been assigned the security remit. This has seen the number of people prosecuted for attacking NHS staff rise 15-fold.

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