Abuse in Healthcare: Why It Happens, Why It’s Never Okay, and How We Can All Do Better

Healthcare workers — doctors, nurses, receptionists, healthcare assistants, phlebotomists, and everyone in between — show up every day to help people. They deal with illness, anxiety, overcrowded systems, and impossible demands, often under huge pressure. Despite this, many are facing something they should never have to: abuse.

Abuse doesn’t always look dramatic. It can be a raised voice, an insult, a threat, or a passive-aggressive comment. But whether it’s big or small, abuse is abuse, and it has real consequences — for staff, for patients, and for the health system as a whole.

Abuse Would Never Be Acceptable Anywhere Else

One of the most striking things about abusive behaviour in healthcare is that you rarely see the same behaviour in other places.

Think about it:

• Shouting at reception staff because an appointment isn’t available — you wouldn’t do that in a shop or a restaurant.

• Demanding a prescription instantly and getting angry when it takes time — you wouldn’t storm into your workplace, school, or a pharmacy expecting something immediately.

• Becoming aggressive about waiting times — you wouldn’t shout at a bus driver because there’s traffic.

• Using disrespectful or insulting language — you wouldn’t speak to your teacher, coach, or boss like that.

Yet these behaviours happen every day in GP clinics and hospitals.

The healthcare environment is often emotional. People are sick, stressed, worried about money, worried about family members, or feeling out of control. But understanding the emotion doesn’t excuse the behaviour. The impact is still the same.

Why Tensions Run High

Most people who become upset in clinics are not bad people. They’re overwhelmed people.

Here are some of the common triggers:

1. Long hospital or clinic waiting times

Healthcare systems everywhere are under pressure. Staff shortages, population growth, and rising demand mean people wait longer than anyone would like.
But the staff at the front desk or in the consulting room are not the ones who decide budgets or waiting lists.

If you are unhappy with system delays, the most effective way to make change is to speak to your local government representative, not the people trying their best within a constrained system.

2. Wanting a prescription immediately

Most prescriptions are completed within 24 hours, but we ask for 72 hours' notice because accuracy is critical. Rushed prescriptions can be unsafe.
Planning ahead is part of being an active participant in your own healthcare.

3. Not hearing the answer you wanted

Good healthcare is not about saying “yes” to everything. It’s about giving safe, evidence-based advice.
Sometimes that means telling people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear — and that can be uncomfortable.

The Impact on Healthcare Workers

Abuse has consequences far beyond the moment it happens.

• It causes stress, burnout, and anxiety.

• It contributes to staff resigning or reducing their hours.

• It makes clinics less safe and less calm for everyone — including other patients.

• It slows down care because staff feel on edge, distracted, or fearful.

When healthcare workers are harmed, the whole community loses.

We All Have a Role to Play

Respect in healthcare is not a nice-to-have — it’s essential.
Here’s what we can all do:

• Be patient and speak kindly, even when things are frustrating.

• Plan ahead for prescriptions and appointments.

• Understand that delays aren’t caused by the person standing in front of you.

• Remember that healthcare staff are human, with feelings and families, just like you.

Empathy doesn’t fix waiting lists, but it does fix how we treat each other.

A Safer, Kinder Healthcare System Starts With Us

Abuse doesn’t improve care. It doesn’t speed things up. It doesn’t solve the problem.

What it does is scare, demoralise, and harm the very people who are trying to help.

If we want better healthcare, we need safer clinics, calmer conversations, and mutual respect — from all sides.
Every patient deserves high-quality care.
Every healthcare worker deserves to feel safe doing their job.

Let’s make sure both can happen.