Ikon Training

Your Guide to Dealing with Aggressive Phone Calls in the NHS

By James Crown

July 25th, 2023

5 mins

Written by James Crown, Training Director

In today’s healthcare environment, it’s more important than ever for NHS and healthcare staff to handle aggressive and abusive phone calls effectively. When a patient is angry, it can be challenging to stay calm and professional, but it’s essential to do so to resolve the issue and maintain patient satisfaction.

As the first point of contact for patients and families, NHS reception staff and GP reception staff often face high call volumes, some of which can be challenging. Learning to manage difficult patient phone calls not only improves patient outcomes but also reduces stress on NHS staff.

Understanding the Triggers:

Aggressive phone calls can stem from various factors, such as long NHS wait times, treatment delays, and inadequate communication. Medical emergencies or stressful situations may also contribute to aggressive behaviour from callers.

Impact on Healthcare Staff:

Nurses and healthcare staff dealing with patients and families over the phone are also at risk of verbal abuse. This can seriously affect their well-being, leading to distress and long-term stress-related health issues. Moreover, fear of verbal abuse can negatively affect NHS staff morale and productivity.

Creating a Supportive Workplace:

To prevent verbal abuse in the workplace, NHS Trusts must train staff to deal with aggressive callers and foster a culture of respect and understanding.

Techniques to Defuse Challenging Telephone Conversations

Are you an NHS reception staff, Nurse, Healthcare staff, PALS call handler, GP reception staff or pharmacist regularly dealing with difficult or aggressive phone calls?

There are essential verbal de-escalation techniques that can be used:

Staying calm and professional: This is probably the most important thing you can do when dealing with an aggressive caller. If you let the caller’s anger get to you, it will only make the situation worse.
Listening to the caller’s concerns: Even if you don’t agree with the caller, it’s important to listen to their concerns and try to understand their point of view. This will help you to resolve the issue more effectively.
Using active listening skills: This means repeating back what the caller has said to you, so that they know you’re listening and understanding. It also shows that you’re taking the call seriously.
Avoiding arguments: This is probably the most difficult thing to do when dealing with an aggressive caller, but it’s important to resist the urge to argue. Arguing will only make the caller angrier and make it more difficult to resolve the issue.
Empathising with the caller: This doesn’t mean that you must agree with the caller, but it does mean that you can try to understand how they’re feeling. This will help to defuse and deescalate the situation and make it more likely that the caller will be willing to listen to your solution.
Offering solutions: Once you’ve listened to the caller’s concerns and empathised with them, you can start to offer fair and reasonable solutions.

Collaborative Efforts to Improve

IKON Training is collaborating with Bromley Healthcare a leading provider of healthcare services in the UK, to enhance our NHS Resolving Telephone Conflict courses.

Bromley Healthcare have a wealth of experience in dealing with aggressive phone calls, and they have provided us with valuable insights into the challenges that their staff face. We are using this feedback to develop our courses so that they are as effective as possible. We are incorporating innovative recorded scenarios that will allow our learners to practice their skills in a safe and controlled environment.

NHS Resolving Telephone Conflict Course Content

Our courses cover active listening, empathy, conflict resolution, and de-escalation techniques.

By taking these steps, employers can help to create a workplace where employees feel safe and respected. Learners will understand that building rapport is essential for effective communication – it can help make a more positive and productive interaction.

The NHS Resolving Telephone course content includes the following topics:

Understanding aggressive behaviour: This section will help learners to understand the different types of aggressive behaviour and the triggers that can cause it.
Staying calm and professional: This section will teach learners how to stay calm and professional when dealing with an aggressive caller.
Active listening: This section will teach learners how to use active listening skills to defuse an aggressive situation.
Empathy: This section will teach learners how to empathise with an aggressive caller and show that they understand how they’re feeling.
Conflict resolution: This section will teach learners how to resolve conflict with an aggressive caller in a fair and effective way.
De-escalation techniques: This section will teach learners how to use de-escalation techniques to calm down an aggressive caller.

The LEAPS Model of Communication

The course introduces the LEAPS model of communication, a simple yet effective method to improve communication skills:

LEAPS acronym graphic

Listen – Actively listen to the other person and try to understand their point of view.
Empathise – Try to understand how the other person is feeling and why they are behaving in the way they are.
Ask – Ask questions to clarify the other person’s point of view and to get more information.
Paraphrase – Repeat back what the other person has said to you, in your own words, to make sure you understand them correctly.
Summarise – Summarise the key points of the conversation at the end, to ensure that you and the other person are on the same page.

By using the LEAPS model of communication, you can build rapport with the other person and have more effective conversations. Read more about LEAPS here.

Benefits of the Training

The course provides numerous advantages, including increased trust and cooperation, improved understanding, reduced conflict, enhanced job satisfaction, improved staff well-being, and increased staff retention.

Learners will gain a better understanding of aggressive behaviour and how to deal with it effectively
Learners will develop the skills they need to stay calm and professional when dealing with an aggressive caller
Learners will learn how to empathise with an aggressive caller and show that they understand how they’re feeling
Learners will learn how to resolve conflict with an aggressive caller in a fair and effective way
Learners will learn how to use de-escalation techniques to calm down an aggressive caller

Handling aggressive phone calls is an essential skill for NHS and healthcare staff. Practical techniques and continuous learning enable healthcare professionals to navigate difficult conversations, foster rapport, and provide better patient care. If interested, NHS Resolving Telephone Conflict Training Course by IKON can offer invaluable skills and confidence to handle aggressive phone calls effectively. NHS Resolving Telephone Conflict Training Course