Commenting on healthcare workers receiving abuse from patients and their next-of-kin being a common occurrence, SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan said that while there are no justifications for abuse, she explained how the high pressure environment in healthcare settings may trigger abusive behaviours. She recommends good healthcare infrastructure that can create a positive and calming ambience for patients and better notification systems to alert and update patients on their appointments. She also noted another pressure point could be the workload of the healthcare workers. “If they have very heavy loads, they are not able to give the kind of attention to family members or patients who have to wait for so long. This could provide all the ripe ingredients for an unpleasant encounter,” Prof Straughan said.