Lisa "Duffy" Duffin

Lisa "Duffy" Fairhead (née Duffin, formerly Bower; born 11 March 1961) is a senior ward sister who currently works in the emergency department of Holby City Hospital. She initially worked in the ED from 1986 to 1993, and later rejoined the department in 1998. She left again in 2003, but visited the ED multiple times during her time working as an agency nurse after this. 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, ward sister and senior ward sister, the latter of which she currently holds in a band 7 position.

Over 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, returned to New Zealand, and got married. Despite her busy married life, she still travelled to the UK occasionally to perform agency nursing work until 2016, when she made a permanent return to Holby. Duffy divorced Ryan at the end of 2016 after falling in love with Charlie. On Christmas Eve, she and Charlie got engaged. They got married the following month.

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 Tomlinson. The following week Duffy was promoted to ward sister which only made things between her and Dr Tomlinson 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 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. Later in September, Duffy was called out to assist at the scene of a train crash where several passengers had become trapped. She managed to work calmly and efficiently and was able to get the rest of the medical crews calm.

In November, Duffy and Andrew decided to try to have another baby together, and the following week she was so keen to that she rushed out of work when she heard Andrew's sperm 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. In November, Duffy confided in Charlie about her home troubles; Peter was being bullied at school and Andrew was still seeing his girlfriend. As Charlie headed off for a weekend with Baz at the end of the shift, he accidentally left the flowers that he'd bought her with Duffy. The following week, a diabetic prisoner was admitted and Duffy was keen to get rid of him. However, Max insisted on giving him thorough treatment like any other patient when it turned out that he was being beaten up by drug addicts for his needles. He tried to throw himself out of a window so he'd be allowed to stay in hospital, but Duffy managed to stop him and keep him in.

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 new 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. Later in the shift, Duffy broke down in front of Charlie due to the fact she was missing Andrew, but he assured her that he'd be there for her. However, she was left annoyed the following week when she realised she didn't know about Charlie and Jan's relationship.

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 in the department. 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. However, Melanie's police officer husband David arrived and complained to Harry about Lara, claiming she got too emotionally involved. When David mentioned injuries which were unknown to Lara, she discovered from Melanie that he'd raped her. Lara urged Melanie to get help, but Duffy later accused Lara of getting too emotionally involved. A week later, Lara kept dropping hints to David that she knew the truth when he turned up in the department to question a witness about a shooting. However, after the shift he pinned her to the floor outside and she hit him on the head with a brick. He suffered from a severe head injury which eventually resulted in his death, and Lara was later arrested.

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 Kate was admitted to the department with cancer and her condition soon deteriorated. Kate informed Charlie she wished not to be resuscitated. Although Duffy was initially angry with Charlie for letting her make that decision, her mother later died and Duffy came to terms with the realisation that it was what her mother wanted.. Also that day, Duffy was caught up in the court trial for Lara regarding the death of David Collier. Although Duffy defended Lara, the jury passed a guilty verdict after Melanie denied that David had raped her. The following week, Lara was sentenced to three years in prison but Melanie eventually came forward about David and Lara was set free after an appeal. 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 December on the day of the Christmas party, Duffy asked Ryan to move in with her and complete the family, to which he accepts. However, the mood was soon killed when a car crashed into the entrance of the ED causing major damage. Duffy was one of the first on the scene, and shock soon turned to horror when Josh crawled out from the car shortly before it exploded. Much like Duffy had done at previous disasters, she put her mind to work.

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, Charlie began to have concerns about the clinic's surgeon and Duffy's boyfriend, Mike, who claimed not to be able to do the surgery on a young boy as he had a glass of wine. When Charlie brought this up, it caused an argument between him and Duffy. Charlie's 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 - after having suffered a stroke - 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. At some point after this, Duffy reconciled with Ryan and they married in New Zealand.

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 midwifery. In June 2016, she was working temporarily in the obstetrics and gynaecology department of Holby City 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.

In November, Duffy got a phone-call from Tanya, Peter's wife who was in labour. Although she was planning to have a cesarean at St. James Hospital the following day, Duffy instructed her to go into the ED for a checkup beforehand. Once there, Duffy was startled when Tanya tried to leave and eventually realised it was because of another patient. Upon investigating further, it transpired that the other patient was a woman named Karen who was Tanya's mother who neglected her. As Peter and Tanya were about to leave later in the day, Karen threw away the keys for the ambulance, locking them inside. Eventually Charlie broke the window and they got inside to successfully deliver Tanya's baby girl. Once the fire crews had arrived, they were all brought inside to safety. Later on after an emotional visit from Karen, Duffy became overwhelmed with emotions and retreated to one of the storage spaces. Charlie found her there and as they reflected on the last 30 years, the two shared a kiss.

Two weeks after their kiss, Duffy revealed to Charlie that she'd asked Ryan for a divorce. The following week, the ED's inspection report came back and Jacob was using assertiveness to control the staff. However, Duffy and Charlie made a bet with him that they could get the staff to improve more through encouragement. He agreed to it, and at the end of the shift he was prepared to keep up his end of the deal to buy them breakfast. However, he was irritated when Duffy reminded Charlie that they'd had their own secret agreement that if she could stop Jacob from acting like he was, she'd buy him breakfast.

In December, Jez caught sight of Charlie and Duffy kissing during the shift but decided to keep it to himself. At the Christmas party after work, Charlie and Duffy were asked to leave due to reckless drunk behaviour at which point they revealed the news of their relationship to the rest of the staff. Shortly after leaving the pub, Duffy was shocked to see that Ryan had flown over from New Zealand as he got out of a taxi and wished her a merry Christmas.

Caught up in the moment, Duffy went along with Ryan who revealed that he'd also brought her son Paul along with him. The next day, it was Christmas Eve and Ryan was admitted to the ED after being involved in a collapse at a department store. She became worried about his condition, which prompted him to fake fainting in reception to get her attention. They carried out multiple tests and a CT scan when Charlie confronted him and he admitted to faking it. Paul spoke to Duffy and insisted that she did whatever would make her happy, but that he wanted her to go back to New Zealand. She agreed to go to dinner with Ryan, but realised that she couldn't stay with him and he agreed to sign the divorce papers. She left the restaurant and headed for the ED, where she proposed to Charlie outside as it started to snow.

In January 2017, Duffy provided support for Alicia when she was unsure about how she felt about Ethan or Cal. Later in the month, Duffy was surprised to find Noel and Max modelling wedding dresses in the staff room. She approached Charlie, irritated that he'd become over-involved. Understanding what she wanted, he brought the wedding forward from July and cancelled the fancy hotel. He revealed that he'd booked the hospital chapel for the next day, and that he would be going on his stag party that evening after the shift.

The following day, Duffy was working a morning shift before the wedding. However when news of Charlie's disappearance got back to the ED the staff tried their hardest to prevent Duffy from finding out. However, David inadvertently revealed it to her. Although she wasn't particularly upset or angry, she was left doubting whether Charlie actually wanted to go through with the wedding. Eventually the others found that Charlie had been arrested the night before for resisting arrest, and Dylan was able to drive them all back to Holby in time for the wedding. Duffy and Charlie later got married in the hospital chapel. Two weeks later, Duffy and Charlie returned from their honeymoon from Tenerife and went straight into work after missing their next plane.

In March at Duffy's 56th birthday party, the staff became increasingly concerned about David's erratic behaviour. When he began behaving inappropriately, Robyn took it upon herself to intervene, and told him to take her for a drive in his new car. However, David went off the rails and ended up driving Robyn to a graveyard where his brother was buried, and throwing her phone away. Duffy, Charlie and Max eventually tracked them down, and Robyn and her newborn baby were admitted to the ED.

During Robyn's time on the recovery unit with her baby in intensive care, Duffy and Charlie both provided support for her. Duffy even offered her a place to stay with her and Charlie, who had only just moved in together. Later in the week, Robyn angrily pushed Charlie over in reception in a rage to confront David, but they still stood by their offer.

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 later 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 married as of 2016, although Duffy told Charlie that he was away a lot.

In November 2016, Duffy revealed her marriage troubles to Charlie, on the same day that her first grandchild was born. They also shared a kiss later in the shift. Two weeks later, Duffy asked her husband Ryan for a divorce. In December, they announced their relationship to the rest of the staff, only for Ryan to turn up outside the pub. The following day it was Christmas Eve and Ryan finally agreed to sign the divorce papers. Duffy later went out and proposed to Charlie, and he accepted. Charlie and Duffy got married at the end of January in the hospital's chapel.

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!
 * Throughout their time working together, other staff members often thought that Duffy and Charlie's friendship may have grown into something more.
 * 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. To date, Duffy has had centric episodes.