VIOLENCE TOWARDS JUNIOR DOCTORS IN ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

The experience and training of accident and emergency (A&E) junior doc tors with regard to patient aggression was investigated by use of a te lephone questionnaire. A total of 114 A&E departments in five differen t regions in the United Kingdom were telephoned. A total of 100 junior doctors answered the questionnaire. Verbal aggression had been experi enced by 96 of them, 50 had received threats and 32 said that patients had tried to assault them. Eighteen doctors had been assaulted by pat ients on a total of 23 occasions. Thirty-two doctors admitted that the y had been upset after a violent incident, so much so that they were p reoccupied with it after work. None of those assaulted received any co unselling and no police charges resulted from the assaults. Only 11 do ctors had received any training on how to manage aggressive patients, although 88 believed that it would be useful. The results of this stud y indicate that violence towards junior doctors in A&E is a significan t problem. Aspects of this problem, including training and support for staff, need to be addressed urgently.