It comes following the RACGP releasing a new resource Responding to sexual harassment by patients: A brief guide for general practices. It includes information on:
- how to respond to sexual harassment by patients
- what to do if you witness another person being sexually harassed at your practice
- how you can respond if a patient is stalking you
- discontinuation of care when safety concerns exist
- disclosure of an act of sexual harassment by a patient.
RACGP President Dr Karen Price said that sexual harassment must be met head on.
“Sadly, sexual harassment of GPs, particularly female GPs, is all too common,” she said.
“One Australian study found that almost 55% of female Australian GPs had been sexually harassed by a patient at some point in their career.
“This resource is desperately needed given incidents that happen every day. It is also the case that although all health professionals must be appropriate and respectful in how they interact with every single patient, there is no corresponding requirement or rubric for patients. Instead, patient misconduct often goes unacknowledged or unreported and sadly GPs often take the brunt of this.”
The RACGP President said that reform is urgently needed.
“There are gaps in the system that leave GPs vulnerable to sexual harassment,” she said.
“For example, if a patient has a history of acting inappropriately with female GPs in one state or across different jurisdictions, there is no mechanism in place allowing any GP to know what that patient has done in the past. The GP is effectively flying blind.
“So, clearly that is something that needs to be fixed so that these bad actors can’t target different GPs again and again and potentially get away with it. This is a challenging issue to navigate and must be approached with caution. GPs take obligations concerning patient privacy very seriously and there are strong legislative protections in place for patients in Commonwealth as well as state and territory laws. But at the end of the day to provide stronger protection for general practice staff we need better systems in place so that practices can do everything possible to stop incidents like this one occurring.
“The RACGP’s advice to members is that if they experience sexual harassment, there are circumstances in which it can be disclosed. So, there is some precedent or at least a base there to build on. This is a discussion that general practice, medical colleges, health organisation and government need to have. Because this sort of behaviour will only discourage more people, from pursuing a career in medicine and that is the last thing we want.”
RACGP WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman said that questions must be asked of how to better protect GPs just trying to do their job helping patients.
“I know it is easier said than done; however, it is vital that anyone subjected to sexual harassment recognises that this behaviour should never be tolerated and speak up.” she said.
“Standing up to patients who are behaving in an inappropriate or demeaning way and reporting sexual harassment is so important. It is about achieving that cultural shift so that GPs feel empowered to say, ‘this is not okay’. I think a key part of this is educating medical students about how to respond in these situations – that way we can achieve long-term, generational change.
“This RACGP resource will make a real difference and I would encourage practices to implement the advice in their policies and procedures. GPs would benefit too from more training and development concerning sexual harassment and inappropriate and demeaning conduct. In this area, the focus is often on physical violence, which is of course something that needs to be confronted to keep staff safe. Something that could be of real benefit is simulated patient encounters so that GPs have the confidence to respond to inappropriate behaviour.
“At the end of the day enough is enough, the nation’s GPs deserve far better. Every person is entitled to a safe workplace and GPs and other members of the practice team are no different. All patients have a responsibility to treat GPs and their teams with respect. This behaviour is never acceptable.”
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