GP practice staff face rising abuse due to media reporting as well as ‘often unchallenged’ views expressed on social media, according to a council report.
Health leaders in Bradford and Craven also highlighted the need to ‘dispel the myth that fewer appointments are being offered’ when in fact GP practices are achieving record numbers.
Providing its yearly update on GP access to the council’s health scrutiny committee, the Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership sought to impress on council members the importance of improving the ‘quality of access’ to general practice, rather than simply the number of appointments.
In a survey of GP practice staff, the partnership found that ‘media negativity’ was given by a quarter as a reason for considering leaving their role.
The report said: ‘We are aware that media reporting, alongside strong and often unchallenged views on social media has resulted and continues to result in unacceptable verbal and physical abuse of GP practice colleagues.’
It also stated that there are ‘rising incidences’ of this abuse towards practice teams in the area, and this can increase the risk of staff leaving roles.
The health and care partnership said it wants to work with the council to ‘dispel some of the misconceptions’ around GP access, and also to help patients make ‘the best and most appropriate use of their whole GP practice team’.
While the health leaders recognised that many people feel ‘let down’ by GP access issues, they also highlighted that monthly appointments in the area have grown by over 10% (36,600) between 2019 and 2023.
Despite this, a ‘misconception’ has arisen that GP practices are seeing fewer patients.
The report said: ‘Some of this misconception could be based on widely shared media and social media articles, as well as personal experience when trying to book an appointment – from telephony challenges (“I can’t get through”) through to a person’s personal choice to be seen by a certain healthcare professional (“I want to be seen by Dr xxx”).
‘These are valid reasons for people sharing their experience, however it does not reflect the trend shown by our data.’
Dr Louise Clarke, a GP and executive director or strategy and transformation at the partnership, said ‘we need to look beyond the headlines and develop a two-way dialogue involving our communities and colleagues’.
She said: ‘The media and social media headlines drive expectations and anger towards GP staff that prevent patients and staff working together to find solutions.’
At her own GP practice, Dr Clarke said all staff have been trained in ‘trauma informed approaches’ to help de-escalate and resolve issues when they arise, and they are also ‘co-designing’ their access model.
‘However, all of this is harder when expectation and negative rhetoric from media drives people towards anger and sometimes abuse of staff,’ she added.
As well as working to tackle myths about general practice, Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership will also seek to address ‘issues caused by the current funding formula’ for contracting GP services, since it has the potential to worsen health inequalities.
Recent incidents of abuse at practices across the UK include GP practice staff in Crewe being threatened with ‘two large knives’, and a ‘seriously vandalised’ GP practice in Sheffield where 13 windows and two doors were smashed in.
And in August, NHS England encouraged GPs to identify abusive or violent patients who may benefit from a rehabilitation programme.
Pulse’s investigation into the effects of abuse earlier this year showed that incidents are rising, and that in order to manage some practices are having to change their processes.
We have given a lot and helped a lot of patients but instead of focusing on these and giving staff more positive energy, the negative press has caused more problems and driven staff away. Now the waiting lists are up. The goodwill is gone. Just do what we need to and don’t go the extra mile. There are no thanks. Only more clinical risks.
For those of you who have been paying attention——-you will know I’ve been saying this all along——–if you work all hours God sends then look forward to visits from your loving family and worried friends on the Gerada Unit for doctors in distress———tip——work on your own as I do——just you and the patients——get shot of the receptionists etc.——- it’s amazing—–the tranquility——–believe me
Difference this (and other reports ) will make to anything. Sweet funk all. So why bother to investigate and publish. Nothing achieved and this will make no headlines outside pulse and possibly a small link on other doctor only websites. Thanks for this anyway.
Let’s be clear. The negative media is principally Tory fomented via the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, in a poorly camouflaged proxy war against GPs.
The proxy war began after the “new” contract in 2004/5, when we gave up OOH. QOF was intended to make up for years of underinvestment in General Practice, but the Tory Press forgot to mention that. Successive Chancellors and Health Secretaries subsequently salami sliced partnership profits to the extent that many Practices are no longer financially viable. But a significant proportion of patients now believe we are workshy money grabbers. Its no surprise recruitment and retention of Partners is plummeting, when we are vilified in the press and abused by patients.