Zero Tolerance Strategy
| NHS staff should be able to come to work without fear of violence, abuse or harassment from patients or their relatives. In most cases, patients and their relatives will be appreciative towards those who treat them, but a minority of people are abusive or violent towards staff. The NHS is committed to dealing with this problem. The NHS has had a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude towards violence since 1999 and there has been a significant increase in the numbers of offenders being prosecuted since 2003, when the Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) was set up. |
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Benim Medical Centre has a duty ‘so far as it is reasonably practical’ to protect the health, safety and welfare of staff members under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act. In practical terms, that includes assessing the risk of violence and taking steps to reduce it as required under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines violence at work as “any incident in which an employee is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.” This covers the serious or persistent use of verbal abuse. Any form of abuse may result in a patient being removed from our practice list. |
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