Brief encounters of aggression and violence in primary care: a team approach to coping strategies.

Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the extended primary care team's experience of aggression and violence from patients, in order to promote the formulation of multiprofessional team procedures for critical incident management and organizational development.

Methods: A qualitative study based on in-depth interviews and focus groups with primary health care teams and community staff was carried out in one inner London and one outer London health authority area. Key issues and themes were derived from transcripts of 30 individual interviews and five focus group discussions.