Derby surgery staff traumatised after incident
It involved a violent patient at the Wilson Street surgery
Staff at a Derby GP surgery say they are shaken, traumatised and experiencing panic attacks, as a result of an incident involving a violent patient – the latest in a string of weekly altercations.
On Thursday, December 29, a patient who was denied medication at Wilson Street Surgery, close to Derby city centre, chose to trash the waiting room area, flipping chairs and disturbing staff.
Dr Shehla Imtiaz-Umer, one of the surgery’s GPs, speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said: “It has been deeply psychologically traumatising to witness something like that, especially in a healthcare setting.
“That level of physical violence has been quite traumatising to witness and adds another burden and another level of stress for staff who could just be working somewhere else.
“We have to strike that balance between patient care and protecting our staff.
“The vast majority of patients do not do this and closing the doors is not an option, shutting our doors because of a handful of patients is not the answer.”
Dr Imtiaz-Umer said the GP surgery was considering security measures and reviewing its lockdown procedures.
She said: “We are overwhelmed with the pressure on healthcare services and now we are planning security measures instead of patient care.
“We have weekly incidents involving patients either in a room with a clinician or in reception.
“We should be able to come into work and feel safe. The level of tolerance for this type of incident has to be zero and we will have to consider what we can do if it escalates.”
In an initial tweet about the incident, which has now been seen by one million people, Dr Imtiaz-Umer claimed that a negative media narrative around GPs, anti-GP rhetoric and both unrelenting demand and unrealistic expectations were to blame for the high level of violence.
Dr Komal Raj, a fellow Wilson Street Surgery GP, told the LDRS: “A patient came in demanding medication and it wasn’t an appropriate request. We tried to explain this as calmly as possible but he just flew off the handle and pretty much trashed the waiting room.
“Luckily there was no-one else in the waiting room. Generally, we have a full waiting room, so that is a saving grace.
“At Wilson Street we are used to a lot of aggression at the front desk but this one has shaken us.
“Myself and another doctor went out to calm things down and we are now reviewing our lockdown protocol.
“The biggest impact of it all has been our receptionists, these are extremely robust staff and they have been having panic attacks and some are talking about leaving.
“They face significant aggression on the phone and on the front desk and they are saying it is just not worth it.
“Previously we have also had doctors leave because they don’t want to deal with that level of aggression and it makes it all the more difficult to recruit staff and it is already harder to recruit staff in areas of higher deprivation.
“It makes it more difficult to recruit and retain and that just means that patients that need the most care might not be able to get it, we won’t be able to provide the same amount of appointments.”
Derbyshire police said they were called to the surgery following the incident on December 29 but the man had left before they arrived. Officers say they have identified the man and are looking to speak to him.