Dr. Laura Finnegan:

I endorse everything Ms Chambers said. I am a non-consultant hospital doctor, NCHD, or junior doctor. I work in similar environments to Ms Chambers and along with nursing staff we are sometimes the first people who come into contact with patients who are distressed and become verbally or physically violent. It is difficult to describe what it is like to experience something like that at 2 a.m. and then have to turn around and go to see the next patient and other patients who are on a doctor's books that night. We are just trying to get through the night, to get through to the morning. The CNMs are sometimes the first people junior doctors go to because there are not many senior staff around in the middle of the night. It is difficult to get feedback. When we experience something and perhaps try to report it and talk to people about it, it is not that our colleagues or seniors do not care about what happened to us but it is a difficult thing to address long term. It is difficult to get proper evaluation of the situation and feedback of what could have been done differently. The things Ms Chambers has listed are the things we need. We need better backup and to know we can rely on security and that the security staff are trained to deal with the situations we encounter. The interns, the doctors who are just coming out of college, are often the first doctors called on the ward if a patient becomes delirious or somewhat violent or abusive towards staff. They might be the first port of call.

They might not be able to contact security or security might be busy elsewhere, as Ms Chambers stated. It is an extremely stressful situation. It is obviously very emotive for us because we go into work and experience this on a daily basis. It is not just physical and verbal abuse; it is very specific abuse. As I was saying, it can be gender-based or racial abuse. I have had colleagues experience racial abuse and then, exactly the same as me, turn around and treat the next patient or go back and treat the same patient.