ALL the receptionists at GP practices in a North-East town have united behind a plea to stop the “huge increase” in verbal and physical abuse they have faced since the start of the pandemic.

Around 80 reception staff in Darlington have signed an open letter in today’s edition of The Northern Echo, calling for greater tolerance from patients.

It follows a survey by the Darlington Primary Care Network (PCN), which shows that 85 per cent of receptionists at the town’s 11 GP surgeries have suffered verbal abuse over the past two years, with some reporting physical attacks.

Now, the receptionists – backed by PCN officials, GPs, and practice managers – are demanding an end to the abuse, which has risen significantly since the Covid-19 crisis led to enforced changes in the way primary care is run.

Due to the increased workload resulting from the pandemic, and to help minimise the risk of infection, general practices have had to introduce a mix of options for patients, including face-to-face appointments, alongside telephone and online consultations.

In the letter on today’s Hear All Sides page, the receptionists say: “We are shouted and sworn at on a regular basis. We have been spat at, threatened with being set on fire, and having our faces ‘smashed in’.

“We are often told ‘if I die it will be your fault’. Yet somehow, amazingly, we still come back, every day, to try our best to help you.”

Helen McLeish, Interim Clinical Director of the Darlington Primary Care Network and a GP in the town for 21 years, said: “The results of the survey are shocking and horrible, and I’ve no doubt that Darlington is a microcosm of what’s happening across the country. It simply has to stop.”

She added: “Receptionists are a really important part of the primary care team, trying to do their best in difficult circumstances. They can’t just conjure up appointments that aren’t there, but there is a minority of patients whose frustrations get out of hand, and the level of abuse the receptionists are facing as a result is completely unacceptable.”

Former Darlington Mayor Chris McEwan, who is a lay member of Darlington Primary Care Network, added: “Both as a lay member, and having a wife who serves as a nurse practitioner in primary care in Darlington, I have seen the stress and strain that reception staff are being placed under on the frontline.

“We are talking about a minority of patients who blame reception staff for the pressure the system is under, but they are seriously damaging morale amongst a group of people who have shown remarkable dedication throughout the pandemic.”

One receptionist, Luanne Bussey, who has worked at Orchard Court Surgery for 17 years, said: “There are times when it all builds up, I go home, get in the shower, and cry my eyes out.

“It’s so sad that it’s come to this, but something has to be done to try to get the message out that the abuse of receptionists can’t go on. All we ask is that people are kind and try to understand that we are there to help, not hinder.”

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