Nikki Grewal was attacked at work

Sister Nikki Grewal described to BBC News Online how she was attacked by a patient's relative - then had to watch as her assailant revisited the unit a few days later.

Nikki Grewal is used to dealing with aggressive patients arriving for treatment at her A&E unit at Bedford Hospital.

She says it is part and parcel of working in A&E, and is even understanding about why frustration sometimes boils over into violence.

However, her own experiences last year have left her nervous about her own safety at work.

I was very shaken up, extremely nervous Nikki Grewal

She told the BBC: "A man came in with his wife, who had just had a baby, and was complaining of chest pains.

"The man was very worried and he got extremely aggressive and went for me - he punched me in the face."

The police were brought in and the man was arrested and charged.

Problem returning

Astonishingly, though, a few days later he was back, accompanying his wife, who was still feeling unwell.

Nikki said: "I was very shaken up, extremely nervous.

"Our unit doesn't have an agreement that once someone has assaulted a member of staff, then they can't ever come back in. It's pretty scary really."

Patients and their relatives have very great expectations of what they want from us Nikki Grewal

The government anti-violence drive has led to increased security measures at Bedford, but security staff are not on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Nikki said: "Certainly it would be beneficial if they were here all the time.

"We do have the porters but this is a lot more pressure on them."

However, she thinks that patients who are increasingly willing to complain means that this is not a problem that is destined to disappear.

She says: "Patients and their relatives have very great expectations of what they want from us.

"I can understand where they're coming from - but at the end of the day, we're working as hard as we can."