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Safe from harm: the senior house officer experience

^*Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Terrace, Edinburgh EH10 5AF, email: osullivantreasa{at}aol.com

Fiona Murray, Consultant Psychiatrist

St John’s Hospital, Livingston

Staff safety continues to be of concern in psychiatric practice. This is reflected in studies of the incidence of violence on in-patient wards (Chaplin et al, 2006) and recent recommendations from the College (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2006). A recent study of levels of abuse experienced by specialist registrars in Northumberland (Reddy & Kaplan, 2006) both dovetailed and contrasted with our study of violence experienced by senior house officers (SHOs).

We carried out a questionnaire survey of all SHOs on the South East Scotland training scheme in 2004 (n=74) and repeated it in 2007 (n=52) to ascertain the stability of our findings. A good response rate of 76% was achieved on both occasions.

In 2004, 35.7% had experienced at least one physical assault but only 40% of these had reported it. Almost all the trainees had felt at risk of violence at some time (92%). Training in the management of aggression had been attended by 84%. The findings in 2007 were broadly similar, with 35% experiencing physical assault, 50% reporting it, and again the majority feeling at risk (87%). Training had been attended by 72.5%.

These results contrast with those of Reddy & Kaplan for specialist registrars, of whom few (23%) had had training but only 9% had experienced physical abuse. In our area it is the SHOs who are generally first on call for emergency assessments. We conclude that training in the management of aggression is of itself insufficient protection against assault for this relatively junior group of psychiatrists.

References

CHAPLIN, R., McGEORGE, M. & LELLIOTT, P. (2006) The National Audit of Violence: in-patient care for adults of working age. Psychiatric Bulletin, 30, 444 -446.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

REDDY, S. & KAPLAN, C. (2006) Abuse in the workplace: experience of specialist registrars. Psychiatric Bulletin, 30, 379 -381.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS (2006) Safety for Psychiatrists (Council Report CR134) . Royal College of Psychiatrists.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by O’Sullivan, T. Articles by Murray, F. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by O’Sullivan, T. Articles by Murray, F.