AU: Little being done to stop violence against doctors

By Michael Woodhead, 6minutes

Physical and verbal attacks on doctors and their staff are on the increase but little or no practical help is being given by doctors’ representative bodies, a new Australian study suggests.

Attacks on doctors and practice staff are becoming so common that they are now seen as an occupational hazard, but little is being done in a systemic way to prevent or respond to attack, a survey in the Australian Primary Health Journal has found.

In interviews with representatives from professional medical and general practice organisations researchers found that all were aware of the violence and aggression in general practice, few if any offered any proactive measures in the management of difficult and aggressive patients.

In some cases, organisation were hamstrung by their constitution or by the lack of evidence to back up such measures, but there was also a sense that representative groups were ‘behind the times’ in not reflecting the increase in the level of aggression at the coalface, the researchers from the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute say.

While most acknowledged there was a need for better training and procedures to respond to violence in practice, few appeared to offer any practical help in these areas. Doctors and practice staff said violence should be seen as an Occupational Health and Safety issue that is managed pro-actively, but at present the responses to violence tended to be dealt with on a case by case basis. It was also suggested that policies to address violence should become part of practice accreditation.