Wigan's health leaders speak out as staff face more and more verbal abuse and threats of violence

Workers in the borough have faced verbal abuse, discrimination and even threats of violence while simply doing their job.

Now, a joint statement has been released by the leaders of the Healthier Wigan Partnership to raise their concerns.

They came together to release the statement after reports of staff being injured at a GP surgery in Openshaw earlier this month.

It has been signed by Dr Tim Dalton, a GP and chairman of NHS Wigan Borough CCG; Prof Craig Harris, accountable officer for NHS Wigan Borough CCG; Coun David Molyneux, leader of Wigan Council; Alison McKenzie-Folan, chief executive of Wigan Council; Silas Nicholls, chief executive of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Robert Armstrong, chairman of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Neil Thwaite, chief executive of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust; Dr David Humphries, a GP and chairman of Wigan Local Medical Council; and David Fillingham, chairman of Healthier Wigan Partnership.

They said: "It was with deep shock and sadness that we all learnt of the attack on our GP colleagues in Manchester.

"Whilst this is an extreme case, staff across NHS and council services within Wigan borough are facing increasing levels of abuse from some residents.

"We recognise that it is only a very small number of residents who resort to such tactics, however it is completely unacceptable and we will not tolerate it in any of our services. This includes shouting, swearing, racism, sexism and any other forms of discrimination, as well as the more extreme threats of violence that our staff are experiencing.

"All of our staff are doing their best to support as many people as possible as quickly and effectively as they can in the face of more people needing help with increasingly complex needs. We know that we can’t always help people in the way that they want, and that we don’t always get it right straight away, and we know that this will be frustrating. However, we will always do everything we can to support those who need us, and resolve any issues as quickly as possible.

"We express our deep gratitude to the greater majority of local residents for their patience and for understanding that it will take time for us to recover from the wide-ranging and significant levels of disruption that the pandemic has had on all our services.

"If at any time you are unhappy with your experience of any of our services, please follow the proper process to make it known, so that we can continue to learn and improve.

"We wish our colleagues in Manchester a speedy recovery and ask everyone to please be kind at all times."

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