Lisa "Duffy" Duffin

Lisa "Duffy" Duffin (born 11 November 1960)  is a ward sister who initially worked in the emergency department of Holby General Hospital from 1986 to 1993. She later rejoined the department in 1998 having retrained as a ward sister and senior staff nurse. She left again in 2003, but has since visited the ED multiple times during her time working as an agency nurse. In 2016, she made a permanent return to the department following the catastrophic helicopter crash. During her time working at the ED, her roles have included that of a staff nurse, senior staff nurse and ward sister, the latter of which she currently holds in a band 7 position.

During her time in the ED, she witnessed many significant events as well as entering a relationship with Andrew Bower, whom she later had three children with. Following his death, she began a relationship with Ryan Johnson and they left to live in New Zealand in 2003. At some point before 2006, Duffy had split up with him and was working in Cambodia in a clinic which she had set up. They later got back together, and she returned to New Zealand after this, although still travelling to the UK occasionally to perform agency nursing work until 2016.

1986-93
Duffy joined the department in or before 1986. In October that year, the staff were faced with two problems; the threat of the closure of the night shift and Duffy's stand against pornographic films. Eventually her demonstration outside the cinema led to several members of staff being involved with scuffles with the police. The following week, Duffy was accidentally punched in the mouth when a punch up occurred between two aggressive patients.

In November, Charlie was furious that Duffy had turned up late for work again, unaware that she'd been raped. She didn't go to the police but soon regretted it. The following week she confided in Megan about her rape ordeal who provided her with much needed emotional support.

In September 1987, Duffy was left distraught and shocked when she recognised a patient with a stab wound who had been admitted as the man who raped her the previous year. He later died in the ED. By October, Duffy was suffering from other issues in the workplace, primarily as a result of her clash with doctor Mary Thominson. The following week Duffy was promoted to ward sister which only made things between her and Dr Thominson worse. Duffy later attempted to use her new authority for the better but it soon went wrong and Megan was forced to intervene to restore peace.

Later in October, Duffy entered a relationship with Peter Tranter. However the following month he revealed to her that he was HIV positive. She confided in Mary who later advised her to be tested. The following week her test results came back and she discovered that she hadn't contracted the virus to her relief. However, she was still left wondering where Peter was. He eventually turned up the next week and Duffy informed him that her test was clear. Despite their relationship ending around this time, he continued to phone her and when she didn't pick up, he turned up drunk in the ED causing a commotion.

In September of the following year, Peter's sister turned up at the ED with a letter and pressed flower from him. His sister explained to Duffy that Peter was dead, and that he'd died after driving his car into a river. In October, Duffy froze when she saw a patient who looked like Peter in reception and she had to ask Cyril to take over. Charlie reprimanded her but after she explained the situation, he took her to his grave to give her some closure.

In September 1989, Duffy once again clashed with one of the doctors, this time Lucy Perry. Valerie later shocked both Charlie and Duffy when she revealed that they could be sent back to the department for porters' jobs as a result of all the complaints. By this time, Duffy had also entered a relationship with Andrew Bower but she started to have doubts about his commitment. She was also surprised to discover that she was pregnant with his child, and although he was happy she told him she didn't love him and that she'd bring the baby up by herself. He left the department at the end of the month and although some other members of staff expected that Duffy would go with him, she eventually decided not to.

She gave birth to a baby boy, Peter, in mid-1990. By that September, she was starting to have sleepless nights and was relieved to hand him over to the child-minder. In October, her child-minder let her down and she was forced to bring Peter into work with her and was grateful that Helen Green was able to look after her. However before long Duffy's mother Kate was able to visit the ED and collect Peter. The following week her mother took Peter away temporarily to give her a break which left Duffy relieved.

In September 1991, Duffy was forced to discipline student nurse Kelly Liddle after she let Jimmy Powell perform first aid on her in resus without permission. Just a week later, Duffy reprimanded Kelly again for giving a patient a tetanus jab without permission. Later in October, Duffy was left angry with Kelly yet again when she turned up late for her shift. The following week, Duffy and Charlie both spoke to Kelly together about her lax attitude to work but she simply snapped back and walked out. Duffy's boyfriend Paul Slator also tried to get her to quit nursing.

In early November, Kelly Liddle committed suicide which shocked all of the department, but especially Charlie and Duffy. Duffy was left thinking she was too critical. Duffy's day only got worse when her babysitter called in sick, so she had to get Paul to look after Peter for the day. After their shift, they argued as he wasn't able to get any work done. The following week, Duffy put her foot down and refused to quite nursing and broke up with Paul.

In September 1992, Duffy was instantly angered by new health care assistant Maxine Price when she wore a bum bag and chewed gum whilst on her shift. The following month, Duffy was left scared when a smear test proved inconclusive. At the end of the month she went for a biopsy. After a long wait, the biopsy results came back negative, much to Duffy's relief.

In January 1993, Duffy was annoyed when Charlie informed her that her ex-boyfriend Andrew had been hired as the new locum consultant. The following week, Andrew picked Peter up in reception, unaware of their relationship until he saw Duffy looking at them together. A couple of weeks later Duffy and Andrew went for dinner after their shift and ended up kissing. In February, Duffy was there to support Charlie after he was diagnosed with depression and he broke down in front of her. At the end of the month, Duffy and Andrew revealed their plans to get married.

By September that year, they'd got married and their relationship was still going strong. In November, they decided to try to have another baby together, and she was so keen to that she rushed out of work when she heard Andrew's test results were back. Shortly after she discovered that she was pregnant again and was planning to leave work, but found herself unable to tell Charlie. She eventually ended up leaving him a letter informing him of her leaving. Although he was distraught that she was leaving, they parted on good terms as she bid farewell to all her friends in the department and left Holby with Andrew.

1998-2003
Duffy and Andrew returned to Holby just over four years later in February 1998, just in time for Charlie and Baz's wedding. However, on the day of the wedding Duffy confessed her marriage problems to Charlie and told him that she thought Andrew was having an affair.

In September, Duffy returned to work at the ED temporarily as an agency nurse. She later applied for a full time position there as a senior staff nurse, and later got the job. Charlie was happy to be working with his old friend again.

A year later in 1999, Duffy discovered that Adam Osman was HIV positive and wanted a job as a nurse in the ED. Although she wasn't against the idea, she feared that patients wouldn't be happy being treated by a HIV positive nurse. She also expressed concern that he wouldn't be able to work as effectively as a person without it and was therefore also thinking about the strength of the department as a whole. Adam later did well to help out a patient, but Duffy stressed that there's a big difference in helping out and becoming a full time staff member. On the day of his interview, he asked Duffy to wish him luck, but she simply told him that the best man would win. He later got the job and Duffy told him that she wasn't prejudice like he might have thought but informed him to be careful either way.

A couple of weeks later, Duffy was interviewed for the role of a ward sister by Charlie and Max. However, before the interview Charlie told Max not to give her preferential treatment just because she was an inside candidate which offended him. Max was then extra harsh in the interview and when Duffy went to speak to him about it after, they ended up kissing on his desk after he informed her that she'd got the job anyway. Charlie oversaw the kiss, and later hinted it to Duffy and reminded her about her marriage and children. Although Max wanted to meet up with her again and take her to a concert, she declined his offer and told him that she needed to see her family. Max was later angry at Charlie and ignored Duffy, but she asked him to stop ignoring her and apologise to him.

On the new year's shift, Charlie asked Duffy if she wanted to go for dinner with him, but he knew by her look that she was declining and they both laughed it off. Duffy was later annoyed in the new year when staff nurse Tina Seabrook started dating Max, and she eventually confronted her. However, they all pulled together for support when they found out the Max's son had died.

In September 2000, Duffy was struggling without Charlie in the ED whilst he was recovering from his pulmonary embolism. In his absence, Duffy hired a new health care assistant named Spencer to help in the department. Charlie soon returned to work, but Duffy was still worried about his health. He also confided in her by telling her that Baz and his son Louis were moving to Canada. At the start of November, Duffy returned back to work after a romantic break away with Andrew, but was shocked to discover that he was returning to work at the ED and that she was the last to know. Upon his arrival, he made a good impression on the ED but Duffy wasn't pleased about his arrival. She later told Colette that she thought she might be pregnant, but also told her to keep it a secret as she didn't know how Andrew would react to the news. Duffy took a day off sick a couple of weeks later due to morning sickness, and Colette did her best to cover for her. She later decided to tell Andrew about her pregnancy, although his reaction wasn't what she had hoped for.

By January 2001, Duffy had decided that she was having the baby either way, and Andrew's attempts to smooth things over only made things worse. The following month, Colette found Duffy in the toilets losing blood and instantly worried that she'd had a miscarriage. She was later admitted to the wards and it transpired that she hadn't had a miscarriage. The incident also made Andrew realise that he wanted the baby after all.

In March, Duffy discovered that Andrew was moving to another hospital to work, after having turned down the consultant post at Holby. Although she was initially angry with him, she came to the realisation that he was putting their marriage first for once. Just before Duffy went on maternity leave, her and Andrew managed to sort out all their differences. In April when Holly went missing and her stalker Tom was believed to be around, Andrew went to get something from his car but bumped into Tom, who then pushed him down a flight of steps. He was rushed into the ED where the team were unable to save him. Charlie was then forced to inform Duffy that Andrew had died which left her distraught.

That September, Charlie went to visit Duffy at her house when she unexpectedly went into labour. Charlie was forced to deliver her her baby boy with a few complications, but it was an overall success. The next month, Duffy went to visit the ED with her baby son Paul and was surprised to find the ED running smoothly with Colette in her place. In November, Duffy was welcomed back to work by the rest of the staff although she wasn't happy as Colette had made changes in her absence.

In December, one of Duffy's old colleagues, Susan Crown, caused a stir in the ED when she refused to help out on certain procedures. She also tried to persuade Duffy to go into agency nursing. Later in the month a young boy, Scott, was brought into the ED by his mother after he broke his arm after falling off a stage during a dress rehearsal for his nativity play. However, whilst treating him Scott revealed to Duffy that it was her son, Jake, who pushed him off the stage. Duffy spoke to Jake when he arrived in the ED, and he told her that Scott was making fun of him about his father's death. Charlie later comforted Duffy after she suspected her family weren't coping.

In January 2002, Duffy arrived in late but was soon called away after her mother called to say she was unwell and couldn't look after the children. She tried to flag a taxi outside but hairdresser Viv pushed her aside and took the taxi, but the taxi driver ended up attacking Viv and she was admitted to the ED. Jan gave Duffy a warning after she once again brought Paul into work with her, but Duffy soon shouted back and claimed she had no option. Max later shouted at her too, at which point she broke down in tears upon realising that it could have been her in the hospital bed, not Viv.

In June, Duffy was on her way to her mother's to drop off Paul when she almost ran over a confused pregnant lady, Melanie. Duffy discovered that she'd been raped and brought her into the ED. Lara and Duffy began treating her and Lara decided to call the police just in case she wanted to make a statement. Lara urged Melanie to get help when it transpired that her husband raped her, but Duffy later accused Lara of getting too emotionally involved.

In September, Duffy confided in Charlie about Andrew's life policy money that she received following his death. She told him that she didn't want it, but Charlie tried to persuade her that it's what he would have wanted. Later in the month, Duffy's mother was admitted to the department with cancer and her condition soon deteriorated. Duffy informed Charlie she wished not to be resuscitated. By November she had begun a relationship with one of the security guards, Ryan Johnson, and when Charlie discovered this he was left wondering why he was the last to know.

In the new year, Duffy revealed her plans to Charlie about marrying Ryan, and asked him to give her away. However, she soon discovered that he'd betrayed her by stealing all her money and running away, which resulted in Charlie offering for Duffy to stay with him for a while. However, in April Ryan returned and apologised to Duffy, and requested that she go with him to New Zealand, something which displeased Charlie. Despite this, Duffy made the hard decision to go with him to New Zealand. Ryan found a way to pay Duffy back and the pair were reconciled as they left Holby for a fresh start in Auckland with her three sons.

Time away from Holby
Three years after she left the ED to go to New Zealand, Duffy had set up a clinic in Cambodia. Charlie, Guppy, Abs and Comfort headed out to Cambodia to help Duffy. However, when a young boy asked for help with his sick father, it sparked a chain of events which led to Charlie raising concerns about the clinic's surgeon and Duffy's boyfriend, Mike, who claimed not to be able to do the surgery as he had a glass of wine. His suspicions were later confirmed when he rang up Sam back in England to check Mike's background. Duffy was left upset that he went behind her back, but Mike later revealed to Charlie and Guppy that he was struck off after helping his ill mother die and as a result of this he was unable to return to the UK. Charlie and the others later returned to Holby.

In August 2015 Duffy, by then an agency nurse having moved back to the UK, returned to the Emergency Department to assist on a busy shift. She saw Charlie once again for the first time in 9 years, but not how she had hoped to. She went to his rescue after he suffered a heart attack in the ED after he had jumped in a lake to rescue Zoe from the freezing water just hours before. As she went to help, she was pushed out the way when Cal went to help. Duffy was relieved when Charlie later started to show signs of life following over half an hour in resus. As Charlie was recovering, she spoke to Louise outside the ED and encouraged her to go back into nursing, something which later influenced her choice to do so.

At some point after her visit to the ED in 2015, she went into specialising in midwifry. In June 2016, she was working temporarily in the obstetrics and gynaecology department of Holby General Hospital and was required to go down to the ED to assist Elle Gardner with a pregnant patient. She arrived to help but ultimately they were able to save the baby and not the mother after they'd been forced to perform and emergency c-section. This left Louise feeling bad as she'd had issues in the past with a pregnant patient, but Duffy reassured her of her work that day. She later bumped into Charlie in the corridor and they reunited once again. She explained to him that she was only temporarily in Holby and still lived in New Zealand. Before she left for the day, she waved goodbye to Charlie outside the department.

In August, she recorded a video message for Charlie congratulating him on his 30th anniversary of being in the department. When she later turned up for the party at The Hope & Anchor, she just found Josh sitting there who explained to her the events which had occurred with Connie's car crash. Things only got worse when the helicopter carrying Grace crashed outside the department, and Duffy was quick to lend a hand. She assisted in organising the temporary closure of the department and with Grace's treatment. As night drew in, she finally celebrated Charlie's anniversary with him and the other staff as they prepared to stay the night to help repair the damage.

2016-
Duffy returned to the ED in September for another agency shift but Jacob offered her the vacant position of band 7 sister. Although she declined his offer, Charlie bet her £20 that she would apply for the position by the end of the day. During the shift, Duffy went the speak to Louise in the relatives room after she'd been sent there by Elle. In anger, Louise had kicked a hole in the wall. Duffy made sure she was okay, but Louise broke down in front of her, revealing her concern for Grace and how deeply the crash had affected her. She told Duffy that she wanted her to stay on in the department. At the end of the day, Elle spoke to Duffy and she agreed to stay on in the department and have a word with Jacob.

The following week, Duffy had her first official shift in the department. She was among the staff members worried about Grace upon hearing that she had to have another operation. After their shift, she headed over to the pub where the news of the successful procedure got back to the staff. Duffy later shared a conversation with David who opened up to her about his son and ex-wife. Duffy encouraged him to get in contact with him, which he later did.

Later in the month, Duffy received news that her eldest son Peter was expecting a child. She also attended a school reunion with Charlie after successfully persuading him to go. However, they bumped into Charlie's old school bully Allan, and when he got angry Charlie punched him in the face. As he lunged at Charlie, he moved out the way and Allen fell over a table and dislocated his shoulder. After being admitted to the ED, Allan suffered a stroke and after a chat with Duffy, his wife and Charlie's old crush Gloria broke up with him. Allan was devastated, and Gloria tried to get Charlie to call her, but he threw her card away.

Personal life
She was in an on-off relationship with Andrew Bower which started in 1989. In 1990, she gave birth to his first child, Peter, but by this point she had dumped him. During their time apart, Duffy dated Paul Slator who tried to get her to give up nursing. She eventually dumped him, and reconciled with Andrew in 1992 and married him the following year. They tried to have another child and were successful and Duffy left Holby with Andrew and Peter.

Duffy later returned to Holby in 1998, still together with Andrew. She discovered she was pregnant again in 2001. Andrew died later that year whilst Duffy was heavily pregnant, which left her distraught but she still had the baby that September. In 2003, she had found a new partner, Ryan Johnson and planned to marry him. Although he attempted to steal her money, he later paid her back and apologised. That April Duffy left with Ryan and her three sons for Auckland, New Zealand. They were still together as of 2016, although Duffy told Charlie that he was away a lot.

Trivia

 * Her first boyfriend, Peter, was diagnosed with HIV. They split up and he later died in a car crash.
 * She suffered a cervical cancer scare but her test results were negative.
 * Her third child was delivered at home by Charlie!
 * Duffy and Charlie are lifelong close friends - at first it often seemed to other staff members that their friendship might develop into something more but it never did.
 * She first worked at the ED from 1986 to 1993.
 * She rejoined the department in 1998 and left again in 2003.
 * Duffy was working at a clinic in Cambodia in 2006, and at some point after this went into agency nursing after returning from New Zealand.

Behind the scenes
Cathy Shipton initially portrayed Lisa "Duffy" Duffin on Casualty from 1986 until 1993. She reprised her role from 1998 to 2003, with guest appearances in 2006 and 2015. It was confirmed in June 2016 that she'd make an appearance in the 1000th episode and make a full return later in the year at the start of series 31 as a series regular again. She returned to replace Rita Freeman as Senior Ward Sister following her departure at the end of series 30.

Appearances

 * See also: Character appearances and Category:Duffy centric.

Duffy appeared in the first episode of the first series, "Gas". She remained on the show until series 8, and later returned in series 13 following some guest appearances at the end of series 12. She departed in the series 17 episode "The Point of No Return" which aired in April 2003. She returned for guest appearances in 2006, 2015 and 2016, and made a full return at the start of series 31 in the episode Too Old for This Shift.