GP staff abuse: Staffordshire workers threatened and sworn at

NHS staff at GP surgeries in Staffordshire have been sworn at and threatened with violence, health bosses said.

Cases include a receptionist being told by a patient he would hit her with a baseball bat and another person saying the surgery "needed burning down".

Staff have also been targeted on social media, Dr Steve Fawcett, from Stoke-on-Trent, said.

The hostility has been coming from a "small minority" of patients, he added.

A video has been compiled by the NHS in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire featuring GP staff talking anonymously about abuse they have faced.

Other examples include a member of staff who said she had been stopped in the street and yelled at due to the lack of appointments.

Another said a colleague had decided to leave the NHS after a man swore at her and, when another patient tried to intervene, "lashed out and hit [the patient]".

People regularly put "vile" abuse on social media, another worker said.

Patients have been frustrated at infection prevention and controls in surgeries, Dr Fawcett said.

But taking out their frustrations on reception staff was "not the answer", he added.

"We are doing our jobs to the best of our ability, but it can be difficult when a small minority of people act in a way that is unreasonable."