A GP practice is closing its reception for two hours a day to give "scared and disillusioned" staff a break from facing the public after receiving a torrent of abuse from patients.
Dr David Coleman says that while most patients were respectful and polite, seven staff members had left Conisbrough Group Practice in recent years, and "relentless" threatening incidents, including name calling, "lazy" calls and comparisons to the Nazis, were making his team members cry every day.
The practice is now temporarily closing its front desk between noon and 2 p.m. each day in a bid to boost morale and prevent further departures.
The Conisbrough Group Practice is an 11,800-patient center covering Conisbrough, Denaby, Warmsworth and parts of Mexborough and Edlington, which as of November last year delivered nearly 50 percent more appointments per patient than the city average, according to data from the NHS.
Dr Coleman, also one of Doncaster South Primary Care Network's Clinical Directors, said: โWe welcome constructive criticism, we want to improve further but we don't tolerate abuse.
โNot a day goes by without a staff member breaking down in tears.
โ'If I die, it will be because of you,' is a daily refrain.
"Staff have been called Nazis, compared to the Gestapo, mocked, belittled, called stupid and subjected to the full spectrum of expletives."
In the past three years, the practice has lost seven staff members, with abusive patient behavior being cited as the main reason.
โOur ideal team is about seven people,โ Dr. Coleman said, โthat's essentially the turnover of an entire department and a huge loss of experience and knowledge.
โIt's not just at work: one of our reception team was stopped in town and told that if she wasn't so lazy and answered the phone faster, people wouldn't abuse her.
โIt makes the staff feel sick, scared, disappointed.
โSome commenters suggested that if they leave because of abuse, they are not cut out for the job in the first place, but I strongly reject that.
โResilience is important, but everyone has a limit.
โThe role is more than just manning the desk and answering phones, with administrative tasks including liaising with countless other services, organizing shifts, processing prescriptions, the list goes on.โ
Dr Coleman said the pandemic, combined with mounting pressures on the system, had "certainly" contributed to the situation.
โThis seems to be a justification for abuse (to some people): 'Public services don't work like they used to, so I'll take it out on the visible element,'โ he said.
โI totally understand people's frustrations with the declining state of the NHS.
โWe are all very aware of how dangerous his current condition is.
โBut I feel like some people don't want to accept how bad it is; it's easier to say: 'It's fake news, fear of the project, lies from the media'โ.
Dr. Coleman said the new measures had been supported by the majority of patients, with many asking about the welfare of the receptionists.
โUnfortunately, we have had one more departure, but that was a result of the persistent and unrelenting nature of the abuse they experienced on a daily basis,โ said Dr. Coleman.
He noted that the surgery remained open during the reception closure and could be contacted by phone or online.
Anthony Fitzgerald, NHS South Yorkshire chief executive for the Integrated Care Board in Doncaster, said staff protection and morale were a priority.
โIt is sad to hear such incidents when staff are trying to help patients in a caring and professional manner while under increasing pressure and workload,โ he said.
