General Practitioners' Changes to Practice due to Aggression at Work

The objective of this study was to record changes made by awide body of general practices due to experience of, or concernsover, aggression. The study involved a retrospective surveyof all general practitioners (GPs) in the West Midlands HealthAuthority region using a piloted postal questionnaire. A totalof 1093 (40.6%) doctors responded out of a potential 2694. Seven-hundredand ninety-four (72.7%) of doctors had not made changes dueto fears over aggression. The other 299 doctors listed 68 differenttypes of change to practice (premises, process) or to motivationbecause of fears of abuse. These changes included striking offmore patients, recorded by 128(11.7%); discussing the problemat practice meetings, by 122 (11.2%); installing panic buttons,by 94(8.6%) and increasing the use of deputizing service, by76 (7%). Seventy-three (6.7%) doctors felt less committed tomedicine and 40 (3.7%) felt less confident as doctors, feelingsthat were significantly more likely to be volunteered by womenand Asian trained practitioners. Unfortunately, most of thechanges, such as putting up security screens or prescribingon demand, were potentially likely to be counterproductive.This study therefore illustrates the need for more support andadvice to practices on how to avoid and respond to aggressionat work.