In the last 6 months there has been a noticeable increase in the verbal abuse that has been levelled at our reception team.

The reception team at Horton Bank Practice work extremely hard every day to help patients and they are doing their best in in an extremely challenging job.

They must follow procedures put in place by the practice management team based on the resources that are available on any given day. They DO NOT make the rules up; they follow what they have been asked to do.

Demand on General Practice is at an all time high and clinical resources are at its lowest.  We are trying to direct patients to the right health care professional at the right time.

We totally understand that when you feel unwell you get upset and frustrated, everyone has felt unwell at some point but taking it out on the person who is trying to help you is counter productive and unacceptable.

We have a zero-tolerance policy at Horton Bank Practice towards verbal and abusive behaviour to any member of staff. Anyone in breach of this policy will be notified and, in some situations, removed from the practice list and will need to register elsewhere.

Please treat our staff as you would want to be treated yourselves.

Thank you for your understanding.

From the partners Dr Ward, Dr Lloret and Dr Cairns