Please Respect Our Staff

Please Respect Our Staff

All of the staff at Middlewood empathise and understand how frustrating it can be accessing clinical services within the NHS at this current time.  We are all patients within the NHS too and are facing the same challenges due to the multiple challenges facing the NHS at the present.  In General Practice we are seeing a rise in demand for our services greater than any time in the past with no significant increase in our resources.

We are very grateful that the majority of our patients continue to treat us with respect and empathy but our front line staff members are facing escalating daily abuse from a minority of our patients; this can range from unreasonable demands, general rudeness, shouting, and swearing. This can amount to bullying and harassment.  These sorts of things are now happen several times each day, in particular to our reception staff.  These behaviours can never be acceptable.

We understand that anxieties around health and wellbeing can lead to heightened emotions; we recognise that patients are understandably and reasonably worried about their own health or that of a loved one.  In these instances we, of course, understand patients can get frustrated or upset.  However, there is no excuse for abusing any member of our team:  there are no circumstances in which our staff should face shouting, swearing or feeling threatened within their place at work.  Being made to cry at work is not acceptable.  Sadly this happens on a regular basis and leads to many members of staff questioning whether they can continue with their role.

Our staff  work hard, often in difficult circumstances, to maintain the running of our services.  They work under extreme pressure much of the time trying to help everyone to their best of their ability.   Despite what some patients may think, all of our staff care deeply about providing each and every patient they come into contact with a high level of care and a positive outcome to whatever their enquiry may be.

Please do not forget that the receptionist you are speaking to on the telephone, the nurse/healthcare person/phlebotomist you are being seen by in a clinic or the GP with who you are being treated by, is a fellow human being.  Our staff are working hard and doing their best to provide  all our patients with a safe, effective and caring service.

Please treat our staff with the dignity and respect they deserve.

The Partners: The Middlewood Partnership.