ABSTRACT
‘I woke up at four this morning. I was concerned about the ward. There were only five staff to look after fourteen patients. Two of the patients are potentially suicidal and require special attention. One of the staff on the night shift cancelled at the last minute and I made the decision not to call in an extra person. I felt the pressure of keeping the money down and I didn’t want to call in agency staff, because usually they do very little. I don’t want the staff to get into the habit of using an agency and there were two students who could have helped in case of serious acting out.’
