ZERO TOLERANCE ON VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION

The practice is committed to providing a safe working environment by minimising the risk of violent

and aggressive behaviour at work. The working environment is defined as the practice premises

and other premises where work is undertaken as part of a person’s official duties including,

travelling to and from the other premises.

The Practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff is treated in an abusive or violent

way.

The Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This

states that Dentists and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or

abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients

has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual

needs and circumstances. They would respectfully remind patients that very often staff could be

confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same

time. The staff 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.

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result

in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being

contacted.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their 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 given when they cannot

We ask you to treat your Dentists and their staff courteously at all times.

REMOVAL FROM THE PRACTICE LIST

A good patient-practice 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.