GP leaders have called on the government to step into defend practices after four staff were injured in an incident in Manchester.

The British Medical Association warned of a “terrible trend of growing abuse, vitriol and violence” directed towards GPs and their staff. The incident came as the BMA announced it had achieved 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for investment in general practice. Its GP committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey said 51% of GPs have reported first-hand experience of abuse in the last month. 67% said their experience had got worse in the last year.

He said: “Abuse of any kind, and particularly physical violence of this nature, cannot and should never be tolerated. GPs and practice staff should never have to fear going to work and patients should also feel confident that their surgery is a place of safety. The Government and NHS England must act, and fast, before yet more incidents of this severity occur. As doctors, caring for patients is why we came into this profession. It is increasingly demoralising and now, seemingly dangerous for us to have to work in conditions where a lack of support, understanding and resources, alongside the demands of the pandemic, place us in an unacceptable position, and at increasing risk.”

Dr Vautrey added: “The fact that more than 10,000 people have signed our petition in less than a month goes to show how important a well-resourced GP service is to our patients, and the Government needs to listen and take action. GPs and their teams have continued to see patients face-to-face throughout the pandemic, but this has been made increasingly hard – not just because of the pandemic but also because of rocketing workloads, chronic staff shortages and a lack of funding. We’re acutely aware of how frustrating this is for patients who just want timely access to their GP practice, whether that’s a telephone or face-to-face consultation; we are equally exasperated with the current situation, and the Government’s so far futile attempts to make any difference.”

• Greater Manchester Police said Olumuiwa Oduntan, aged 59, of Herne Street, Openshaw, will appear before magistrates today charged with six offences at the Florence House Practice, Openshaw, Manchester. There are three counts of section 18 assault, one count of a section 47 assault, one count of malicious communications and one count of affray.