Coping with the violent patient in accident and emergency.

This is another of the papers presented at the conference on 'Violence' organised under the auspices of the London Medical Group. Sylvia Winterbottom, who is based in the Casualty Department of Bolton Royal Infirmary, relates her experiences with various types of violent patients she meets daily in her work. She feels that many factors are to blame for the ever increasing violence but is more immediately concerned with how medical staff can prevent these outbursts. The guidance given in DHSS circulars seems to her totally inadequate and in some cases potentially dangerous. Ms Winterbottom concludes on a rather despairing note-she sees the current situation as one with little hope for the future.