Patient who attacked GPs with baseball bat given community order 

A man who attacked two GP registrars with a baseball bat in a ‘violent attack’ has been given an 18-month community order. 

Victor Ridsdale, who was 63 at the time of the incident, attacked the registrars at the Woodhouse Health Centre in Sheffield on 1 November 2023. 

Mr Ridsdale was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on 14 July this year following conviction for: 

• Assault occasioning actual bodily harm;

• Possessing an offensive weapon in a public place;

• Threatening a person with an offensive weapon.

He was also told to serve 20 rehabilitation days and banned from entering the practice for 18 months.

Pulse understands that the practice had to close for over half an hour and switch to telephone-only appointments following the incident.

A message from the GP practice to patients at the time said: ‘Following yesterday’s violent attack on practice staff, all new appointments will be telephone only. If you already have an appointment you may still attend the practice as normal.’ 

South Yorkshire police said they had received reports that a man ‘assaulted two medical staff’ with a baseball bat while inside the medical centre. 

The force told Pulse at the time of the incident they had been called to the scene following reports of a man assaulting two medical staff with a baseball bat. No one was seriously injured during the incident. 

Court logs for Mr Ridsdale’s convictions seen by Pulse mention seizure of a ‘truncheon’.

The year the incident occurred, a Pulse investigation into the effects of abuse showed a 16% rise in crimes involving violence at GP surgeries since 2019, after a drop in incidents during the pandemic. 

GP not-for-profit Primary Care Sheffield launched ‘Don’t Leave a Gap’, an anti-abuse campaign, earlier this year. 

Responding to Pulse following Mr Ridsdale’s conviction, Primary Care Sheffield medical director Dr Lucy Cormack said: ‘Violence or abuse towards practice staff is never acceptable. Incidents are rare but can have a lasting impact, which is why our campaign reminds patients to treat staff with courtesy and respect.  

‘We encourage staff to speak up if behaviour crosses the line and to seek support from their practice managers or the wider ICB, so no one is left to face these situations alone.’ 

NHS South Yorkshire ICB told Pulse it is currently reviewing its ‘Not in a Day’s Work’ campaign addressing abuse of NHS staff. 

Anthony Fitzgerald, the ICB’s executive lead for primary care, said: ‘We are currently working with primary care colleagues to review and understand the current situation of abusive behaviour towards staff.  

‘This ongoing work will inform an update to the campaign over the coming months to support GP practices and the wider primary care professions across South Yorkshire.’

Last year, delegates at the UK LMC conference voted through a motion calling for ‘more severe sanctions’ for perpetrators of threatening and violent behaviour towards practice staff.  

Earlier this year, Pulse reported on an MDDUS survey which found over 80% of GPs experienced verbal abuse from patients in 2024, while a quarter were subjected to physical violence. 

The survey found over a fifth of GPs reported thoughts of harming themselves due to work pressures. 

Last month, a man was jailed after bombarding a Southampton GP surgery with phone calls threatening to cause enough damage to close the building ‘for weeks’. 

And a recent University of Nottingham study found violence and abuse towards GP practice staff is ‘widespread’, according to a review of 50 studies into the issue globally.