A doctor was attacked by the daughter of an elderly hospital patient after she was told that her mother may have cancer.
Arlene McKenzie, who insisted she should have been told first, punched and kicked consultant Sam Allen after demanding: “Do you call yourself a doctor?”
McKenzie, 53, repeatedly tried to grab the medic and dug her nails into his arm before hitting him with her bag.
The assault only ended when a nurse rushed in, alerted by Dr Allen’s calls for help.
Dr Allen had earlier broken the news to McKenzie’s mother after she asked about an abnormality on her chest X-ray, following her admission with weight loss.
He met McKenzie in an office at Crosshouse Hospital in Ayrshire and noted she was “visibly upset and angry”, with a “very stern face and cross look”.
Dr Allen, 54, told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court: “I was trying to connect with her but was being told, ‘What gives you the right to speak to (her mother) Mrs Molloy?’
“She asked me how long I’d been qualified and she said, ‘Do you call yourself a doctor?’ She said I should have spoken to her first.
“I tried to explain her mother had asked me a straight question and it was her mother’s autonomy to ask me that question.”
Dr Allen was unaware McKenzie had power of attorney over her mother’s affairs but added: “Even if there is power of attorney it is still the patient’s right to have their questions answered.
They were sensible questions that she asked me. “I tried to apologise to Mrs McKenzie and I did apologise several times but she didn’t accept them. There’s always ways you can break bad news better.
“She did mention power of attorney and also said her mother had dementia. I asked if there was anything else she wanted to know and the meeting finished.
“As I was bending to stand up I was hit in the face by a fist. She must have got up already.
“After the fist I was kicked in the shins. I don’t know how many times I was hit because she then used her bag to hit me.”
Dr Allen, a consultant in infectious diseases, added: “She grabbed my arm and dug her nails into my upper arm. I put my hands up to defend myself.
“She started swinging the bag at me. She was trying to hit my face or head with the bag.
“It was a shock and after the first hit I called for help. I’d never experienced it before.”
As McKenzie was escorted from the office she went face to face with Dr Allen, said “boo” and stuck out her tongue.
A nurse brought an ice pack for swelling below his left eye, Dr Allen said, adding he was left shaken with a large bruise on his shin and scratch marks on his arm that drew blood.
Nurse Laura Paterson told the court she rushed into the office to help and saw McKenzie attacking Dr Allen while yelling: ‘You’re a monster, a beast.”
Sheriff George Jamieson found McKenzie guilty of assault. She was fined £700 and ordered to pay Dr Allen £700 compensation.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here