I despair for society

The patient should have been "expelled " from the GP list immediately. Surgery staff are not paid or even paid enough to put up with such abuse.
This justnwpuld not have happened years back. But sadly it is a sign of the times we now live in when everything is a drama of Eastenders or Coronation st proportiojs or at the lowest level of Tik Tok etc.
They obviously were not aware that if you have D and V you shouldnt rock up at a Gzp surgery and give it to everyone else. But I doubt in the circumstances the patient wasnill atball.

Sympathies to your sister.

Excuse the typos. Fat finger small keyboard

Practice manager should have been called as soon as the abuse started and taken patient and sister out of the reception area to a private office. There it should have been explained to them that abuse to staff would not be tolerated and any further episodes could result in removal from the list. Practice manager should then have spoken kindly to your sister and asked if she was all right. I should know, I used to be a practice manager! If your sister is not getting the support she needs, then perhaps it is time to change practices?

Not acceptable. Hope the person was barred.

Do GP surgeries have CCTV?

Don't despair for society. These people are the exception.

To be fair there are faults in the system… having made two journeys to my friend’s gp with power of attorney proof a year ago, I was told that it hadn’t been registered on the system. It was enough to make me very cross but I confined myself to ending the call and sending an email.

Yes, some do. Mine does. It is in a pretty safe area but the management is very good at staff support indeed.

The practice manager should have been called in immediately as in B9exchange's post.

However it was the patients friend not the patient -who knows who really was to blame if the patient was actually very vulnerable?

I also checked out the legal situation

"Yes, the police can prosecute individuals for threatening behaviour in a doctors' surgery. Threatening, abusive, or violent behaviour towards NHS staff is a criminal offence, and a prosecution can be pursued regardless of whether the surgery operates a "zero tolerance" policy"

Public order act, Offences agains the person act.

I was answering, "is there CCTV" in surgeries"

I do not usually use public transport as I can’t access it easily but twice recently I have when with family.
The behaviour I saw left me amazed on both occasions.
On one people trying to fare dodge but the other was so upsetting, two children aged about 12/ 13 abusing and insulting other ordinary passengers.
I really did then despair about society.

The sounds like an offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

5. Harassment, alarm or distress.

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if (s)he—

(a) uses threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour ...

within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.

The penalty is a £1,000 fine.

The practice manager should report the matter to the police. If there is CCTV evidence all the better.

The woman’s outburst means she could be joining her friend in court.

I don't despair about it but it makes me sad. It is a reflection of people not taking responsibility for themselves in the UK

And a sense of "entitlement" in areas which are frankly not appropriate at all. - I don't know enough to compare many countries - I know it is unlikely to happen in Germany, where there is a greater sense of public order.

As regards doctors surgeries, ours will definitely know when they are dealing with someone who is ^genuinely disturbed MH wise or suddenly desperate about a loved one, as opposed to the description in the O/P, and are dealt with accordingly.

I expect there will come a time when we have to have a security person at the surgery which will cost the practice dearly. Unless employed directly by the NHS and rotating with security staff at hospitals.

Yes Graphite and thats why the CCTV =the right way forward.

However, there are more people presenting as desperate/violent than there used to be. This is a big societal problem not easily addressed.

My surgery has a written policy

"The X surgery operates a strict NHS "zero tolerance" policy regarding any form of violent, disruptive, or abusive behavior towards receptionists and practice staff.

The specific actions taken under this policy include:

Immediate Warnings or Removal: Any form of physical violence, threatened violence, or verbal abuse that causes staff to fear for their safety will not be tolerated.

The practice has the right to issue a formal warning or remove disruptive individuals from their patient list with immediate effect.Police Involvement:

In severe cases of physical aggression or threatening behavior, the practice will summon the police.

Written Notice: If you are removed from the practice list, you will be notified in writing, and the incident will be recorded in your medical records