GP surgery staff were left in tears and forced to call the police after incidents in which angry patients threatened them and behaved violently.

Dr Jennifer Locke, a consultant nurse who works at a practice in East Yorkshire, said she was forced to press a panic button when a patient started walking towards her and saying, “If you don’t give me that prescription, I’ll go I am.” Let me kill you”.

Humberside Police have received 411 reports of abuse towards GP staff in the area since 2019. Although most were verbal, the force investigated attacks, one kidnapping and six death threats.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said it knows it can be difficult to care for patients due to the current pressures, but no one should have to go to work in fear of abuse.

Tom Park-Poulson, a practice administrator, said the “vast majority” of abuse by patients occurred over the phone and usually started if an appointment or prescription could not be made immediately.

One patient, who did not get an immediate appointment, “said he would come to the surgery and ‘sort us out'”. The other one slammed the door in anger and broke it.

At times, staff were personally threatened and police were called to remove patients from the building, including one time when someone “refused to leave until a doctor Didn’t come to see them”.

“We have had patients attempt to physically intimidate staff, we have also had an incident where a team member was pushed into a clinical room,” Mr Park-Poulsen said.

“Some colleagues have had tears in their eyes.”

The police figures include 19 occasions when staff were attacked and injured. Officers also investigated two reports of stalking, one kidnapping and six death threats.

One of the death threats was made to Dr Locke – an academic doctor who works as a nurse consultant.

Police contacted him saying a former patient had said they “wanted to kill me”. A restraining order was imposed.

Dr Locke said she was not scarred by the incident, but the abuse had an impact.

“Working in surgery is stressful because you have to deal with so many complex issues and you need to keep your composure with anxious and depressed patients,” he said.

“And yet you have all this in the background, so it’s quite disturbing.”

Most of the patients he saw were “good”, but attitudes had changed due to “on-demand” and consumer culture.

“Patients think they are consumers with rights,” he said. “They think they can just call the GP surgery and get antibiotics like they go to McDonald’s and order an ice cream.”

Dr Locke said general practice was becoming a less attractive place for people to work.

He feared the issue could begin to impact staffing levels and called on patients to “modify their behavior to keep the general practice alive”.

Brian McGregor, chairman of the BMA’s Yorkshire Regional Council, described the police figures as “disappointing and worrying”.

“Even a single incident of abuse against GPs and their teams is unacceptable,” he said.

“The current pressures and staff shortages can make it harder for our patients to get the care they need, but people should not take their frustrations with the system out on GPs and their staff – the people who are often doing their best in difficult circumstances. Are. “

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