People often assume that my job as an investigative journalist is full of danger. In fact, having doors slammed in my face is about as tough as it gets. But my own perceptions of life on the NHS frontline could not have been further from the mark.
I've spent the past nine months filming for Panorama in the accident and emergency departments at two of Britain's busiest city hospitals - Heartlands in Birmingham, and the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. I wanted to see for myself the sort of violence and abuse that medical staff have to contend with. And what an eye-opener it has been.
I had always rather naively assumed that the public were respectful towards nurses and doctors. After all, these are the people who care for us when we are at our most vulnerable. I never imagined that A&E staff would wearily accept shouting and swearing from patients as just part of their job. In fact, it's so routine that everyone I spoke to said reporting each incident would leave time for little else at work.
Worse still, everyone had a tale to tell of being assaulted. In a single week at Heartlands, for example, I heard about a nurse being punched in the chest, a doctor being punched in the head, and another having a chair thrown at him - all by patients they were trying to help.
I can't imagine how staff keep their cool and continue to treat patients who behave in such a vile manner. But they do. And I fear this has led to something of a siege mentality in A&E departments, where staff are so worn down by bad behaviour that they don't even see it as that bad any more.
Take Amai Gold. She suffered severe nerve damage two years ago after a patient grabbed a syringe off her and plunged the needle into her finger. She feared for her life during the attack, and the emotional toll on her since has been huge. She was determined to press charges, but many of her colleagues said she should let it drop - that it's a hazard you have to accept if you work in A&E.
Gold disagreed and pursued the case, but maybe her colleagues had a point. The legal system appears not to offer much support to NHS staff hurt in the line of duty. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped her case and she managed to force it into court only with the help of the new Legal Protection Unit, set up by the government to try to increase the measly prosecution rate for those who attack NHS workers.
But the case was dropped for a second time in November when an expert concluded that her attacker's diabetes meant he couldn't be held responsible for his actions.
Other cases we looked at that actually went to trial ended in a slap on the wrist for violent patients. Is it any wonder there's an attitude of "toughen up or ship out" in A&E departments?
But I think medical staff are doing themselves a disservice if they fail to report every bit of abuse they endure. No one should expect to be treated like a punchbag at work. All the health workers I've met take their duty to care very seriously. But what about their right to work in a safe environment?
