 |
 |
>Although we have a duty of care to our patients, this duty of care does not >extend to being >bashed whilst in the execution thereof. The trouble is, I don't think many >employers are tough >enough with aggressive patients / relatives, I absolutely agree - we're all too leniant. You wouldn't expect anything but being thrown out of a shop if you went in and abused the staff. Anyway if I woke up one day with a stinking hangover (as if!) and remembered verbally abusing A&E staff the night before I wouldn't feel at all justified in moaning that my wound hadn't been sutured / # X-Rayed etc. Yet how often do you see staff chasing drunken patients trying to persuade them to be treated?! It's not just the nature of the job either - would you be allowed to stay in a pub / club if you were abusive? We operate a one-warning system - first f**k off and they're warned, second and they're out with no treatment unless it's life or limb saving. The problem is we need to empower our juniors to do that whilst we're not there - if they realise that you'll back them totally when they follow your instructions and actually see you do it yourself to prove it's OK they'll do it. Until then the drunken bum will rule A&E. Nick Jenkins A&E Consultant, Abergavenny %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%