The practice fully supports the NHS Zero Tolerance Policy. The aim of this policy is to tackle
the increasing problem of violence against staff working in the NHS and ensures that doctors
and all other staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused.
We understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this
into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.
We ask you to treat your doctors, other patients, and all other staff courteously and act reasonably. All incidents will be followed up and you will be sent a formal warning after a second incident or removed from the practice list after a third incident if your behaviour has been unreasonable.
However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or verbally abusive, will not be tolerated and
may result in you being removed from The practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police will
be contacted if an incident is taking place and the patient is posing a threat to staff or other
patients.
Al Shifa Medical Centre has a strict Zero Tolerance Policy. Our policy extends to but is not
limited to homophobia, racism, transphobia, biphobia, misogyny, harassment, classism and
xenophobia.
In order for the practice to maintain good relations with its patients the practice would like
to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would
be found unacceptable:
- Using bad language or swearing at practice staff
- Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or
other patients, such as pushing or shoving - Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff
- Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
- Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted.
Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations are given when they
cannot - Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
- Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently
- We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times.
- It also extends further to include but is not limited to:
- Ableism – Prejudice in favour of able-bodied people
- Transphobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against transgender or gender nonconforming people.
- Queerphobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against anyone identifying as queer and
any and all coinciding discrimination. - Biphobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against bisexual people.
- Ace/Aro phobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against asexual or aromantic people.
- Racism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against someone based on their race.
- Islamophobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force.
- Xenophobia – Dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries and/or of different nationalities
- Misogyny – Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women
- Sexism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination typically against women, on the basis of sex.
- Classism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against people belonging to a particular social class, typically of a low socioeconomic class.
- Transmisogyny – The intersection of transphobia and misogyny. Misogyny is specifically targeted toward trans women and trans feminine people on the basis of their gender identity.
- Misogynoir – This is defined as misogyny directed towards black women where race and
gender both play roles in bias. It was coined by queer black feminist Moya Bailey,
who created the term to address misogyny directed toward black women in
American visual and popular culture. - Anti-semitism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jewish people
- Homophobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against homosexual people.
A good patient-doctor relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and
is a last resort in an impaired patient-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably
broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of The Practice, that they
should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of
violence e.g. when the Police are involved.
In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home, it may be
necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire
household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of
the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted
by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after
the whole family. This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of
violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors
or other staff at risk.