This article is from page 15 of the 2006-07-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
CALLS have been made to increase the amount of training offered to receptionists in general practices after an NUI Galway survey revealed that 62 per cent of receptionists have been the victim of physical violence in the workplace.
The survey, which was conducted among 400 receptionists working in the west and north of the country, also revealed that only 13 per cent had received any training in how to deal with difficult patients.
Of those who said that they had been the victim of violence, more than 50 per cent said that they had experienced it on between two and four occasions, while almost 20 per cent reported having been assaulted on more than 10 occasions.
“Perhaps there is room to train staff more in how to deal with aggressive situations and divert potential problems by diffusing the situation,” said Dr Michael Harty, Chairman of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) in Clare. “The figure is very surprising. I would not have thought that it would have been so high as people are generally very supportive.”
In 34 per cent of cases where violence had taken place, no action of any kind was taken, while in 27 per cent of cases assistance was received from a colleague. Gardaí were called in only 16 per cent of cases, while three per cent of receptionists received counselling after an incident.
“I think that it is more of an urban rather than a rural problem,” continued Dr Harty. “In a rural practice, the doctors, receptionists and the patients are all well-known to each other. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen, but not to the same level as it would in urban areas.”
At the time of the survey taking place, 30 per cent of general practices had no policy in place for dealing with problem patients.
However it is believed that this figure is on the decline.