Zero Tolerance

Oh thank you so much Mrs Hewitt.

Our esteemed Health Minister says that patients offering abuse or violence to NHS staff will be met with a policy of zero tolerance and fined up to £1000 a throw. Those at the front door of the NHS in Practices or in A&E confront abuse on a daily basis. In A&E sadly violence is also commonplace, often fueled by booze and frustration at long waits.

BUT, with so much of the Departments current rhetoric being about patients rights: to choose, not to wait, to have unlicensed treatments; to have both instant access and prebookable appointments at times of your choice with whomever you want, to name but a few..... this ramps up expectations of what can be delivered.

THEN people rightly come to expect these things can be delivered, everywhere, all the time. And when this is not the case a few, a merciful few, get a bit narked, and are wont to take it out on the first person the come across...usually the Casualty Nurse or the GP receptionist.

So I'm off the army surplus store to invest in a stock of tin hats for our valiant staff, 'cos now it's been on Radio 4 we are bound to have an army of Clive Horrobin's queuing up to do us all an injury.