Ruth Winters (born 18 October 1984) is a trust doctor who worked in Holby City Hospital's emergency department from 2007 to 2011. She joined the department in September 2007 during her second year of foundation training, and following this she was appointed as a trust doctor in the ED.
Biography
Early life
When Ruth was a teenager, her father Ted drove her mother to suicide. (CAS: "Inappropriate Behaviour"; "Take It Back")
First months at Holby ED
On 8 September 2007, Ruth worked her first shift at Holby City Hospital's emergency department. Within hours of her arrival, a bomb had exploded on a coach, and the hospital declared a major incident. (CAS: "My First Day") Despite the chaos, she relished the opportunity to shadow cardiothoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp and observed as she performed an anterolateral thoracotomy on a tamponading patient. However, senior charge nurse Charlie Fairhead took issue with her disrespectful attitude towards the nursing staff, and, following the evacuation of the entire department, he instructed her to learn all of the nurses' names and "some manners". (CAS: "Charlie's Anniversary")
On 6 October, Ruth treated a woman named Bunmi Adasida who vehemently denied being pregnant. Nurse Nadia Talianos urged Ruth to perform a HCG test, but Ruth was confident that it was not necessary and later diagnosed Bunmi with appendicitis. However, Bunmi soon became screaming in agony and was taken to resus. When it transpired that Bunmi had an ectopic pregnancy, Ruth told consultant Harry Harper that she based her diagnosis off the information provided to her by Nadia. (CAS: "Core Values")
On 13 October, Ruth was horrified when her estranged father Ted was admitted to the ED following a road accident and tried to pass his case onto Toby, but Nadia pressured her into treating him. Ted tried to convince Ruth to switch samples to cover up his drink-driving and attempted to hit her when she refused to help. He later apologised and claimed that he tried to get in touch with her, but she was convinced that he was lying. However, Ted presented Ruth with a card that he claimed to have written years prior and acknowledged that it was too late for him to make up with her. Upon reading it, Ruth decided to oblige Ted and swapped his blood sample with hers. After agreeing to have a coffee with Ted, Ruth decided to get a card from a charity collector outside the hospital; she was devastated to find the card Ted had given her and tore it up. (CAS: "Inappropriate Behaviour")
On 17 November, Adam Trueman allowed Ruth to take the lead in resus, and Ruth decided to retrieve and administer prilocaine to the patient herself. She later realised that she had given them the wrong drug by mistake. However, as Ruth attempted to cover up her error, she noticed someone filming her and had the tape destroyed. After being called into Adam's office, Ruth feared that he had found out about her mistake, but he instead praised her work and suggested that she could be a consultant within a few years. (CAS: "Strangers When We Met")
On 8 December, executive director Marilyn Fox informed Ruth that she was being considered for a surgical rotation and wanted her to perform an intricate procedure and show her worth. When a patient's foot was amputated and deemed unviable, Ruth was eager to clip and tie the wound, but Adam wanted to give the opportunity to Toby De Silva who had recently resigned. Ruth protested and claimed that she needed to perform the procedure, but Adam told her that she had been "in a world of [her] own" for the entire day and ordered her to take a break. That night, after Toby had withdrawn his letter of resignation, Ruth allowed him to share the on-call room with her. She asked him if everyone hated her, but he was fast asleep. (CAS: "Behind Closed Doors")
On New Year's Eve, a young woman named Orla was admitted to the ED following a car accident. Ruth reviewed her neck X-ray and ruled that there was nothing wrong with her, so she instructed Nadia to remove Orla's neck collar and discharge her. However, Orla soon collapsed and could not move her limbs. After noticing a potential C7 fracture on the X-ray, Ruth told clinical nurse manager Tess Bateman that Nadia was instructed to remain with Orla while she asked for a second opinion. (CAS: "Take a Cup of Kindness Yet") Tess confronted Nadia who insisted that Ruth was lying, and Tess warned both of them that there would be a formal investigation if they could not agree on what happened. Feeling that she was an inadequate nurse, Nadia decided to take full responsibility for the incident and resigned. Ruth overheard and admitted her fault, but Nadia insisted that she did not belong at the hospital and wished Ruth luck with her career. (CAS: "For Auld Lang Syne")
On 5 January 2008, as the nurses had declared a work-to-rule, Ruth volunteered to attend an entrapment. Despite being warned that paramedic Greg Fallon had already administered morphine, a pressured Ruth pled ignorance and gave the patient named Clare a second dose. In the ambulance, Clare lost consciousness, and consultant Zoe Hanna diagnosed her symptoms as those of a morphine overdose. Later, Ruth treated Clare's partner Aiden and believed that his hand injuries were sustained while abusing Clare, but Aiden showed Ruth a series of bruises on his back, and she realised that Clare was responsible. Believing that Clare's violent behaviour was the result of pregnancy hormones, Ruth encouraged Aiden to help Clare through the pregnancy, and the two reconciled. (CAS: "Broken Homes")
Two weeks later, Ruth treated a man named Pete who had taken an overdose. Although his prognosis was initially optimistic, Pete began to experience severe chest pains, and his X-ray and ECG suggested that he was suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Pete soon went into VF, and, despite Ruth's best efforts, he was pronounced dead. Ruth tried to inform Pete's wife Suki of his death, but she refused to believe that Pete was dead. Ruth revealed to Suki that her mother committed suicide when she was a teenager, and she assured Suki that Pete's overdose was a cry for help and not meticulously planned. (CAS: "Take It Back")
Personality
When Ruth arrived at the emergency department, Ruth was highly ambitious and solely focused on her medical career. Her medical expertise amazed her peers, (CAS: "Core Values") and she relished any opportunity to impress and put her skills to the test. As a consequence, Ruth lacked basic manners towards her colleagues, especially the nurses, (CAS: "My First Day"; "Charlie's Anniversary") and she was prone to scapegoating. (CAS: "Core Values") Ruth often lacked compassion for patients (CAS: "Inappropriate Behaviour"; "Where's the Art in Heartache??") to the point where she recommended getting the police to stop a woman with Alzheimer's disease from constantly calling for an ambulance. (CAS: "Strangers When We Met")
Ruth asks Toby if everyone hates her. (CAS: "Behind Closed Doors")
However, despite Ruth's cold exterior, she was very sensitive. She was visibly affected when a resus patient was stabbed to death in front of her. (CAS: "How Soon Is Now") She tried to open up about her issues to registrar Maggie Coldwell, but, having had enough of being involved in her colleagues' personal lives, Maggie turned her away. When she shared the on-call room with Toby, Ruth asked him if everyone hated her. (CAS: "Behind Closed Doors")
Relationships
Friendships
Toby De Silva
In November 2007, when Toby was being blamed for the scandalous toxicshark.com blog, Ruth did not believe that Toby was the culprit and, feeling as though he was not enjoying medicine, suggested that it would be better for him to "get out" sooner rather than later. (CAS: "A House Divided") However, after Toby had resigned and was given the opportunity to perform a complex procedure, an indignant Ruth asserted that Toby was "hopeless" as a doctor, and she was more clinically able than him. Regardless, when the two shared the on-call room that night, Ruth tried to confide in Toby and asked if her colleagues hated her; he did not respond as he was fast asleep. (CAS: "Behind Closed Doors")
In January 2008, Toby invited Ruth to dinner with him and Maggie, but, after working on a case that hit close to home, she turned him down. (CAS: "Take It Back")
Professional
Harry Harper
Upon Harry's return to the emergency department, Harry was impressed by Ruth's advanced medical knowledge (CAS: "Core Values") and viewed her as one of the department's most promising F2s. (CAS: "Inappropriate Behaviour")
Nadia Talianos
In October 2007, Ruth ignored Nadia's advice of ordering a HCG test for a woman named Bunmi who was experiencing abdominal pains and diagnosed her with appendicitis. However, after Bunmi was rushed into resus and found to be having an ectopic pregnancy, Ruth blamed Nadia for failing to perform the test. After Nadia was reprimanded, she confronted Ruth and branded her an "ambitious little bitch". (CAS: "Core Values")
The following week, Nadia found out that Ruth's father Ted had been admitted to the ED and pressured her into treating him. She began to antagonise Ruth and asserted that she was not unique because of her troubled upbringing, but Ruth brought up Nadia's privileged background and insisted that she could never understand. However, after Ruth revealed that her mother was dead, Nadia apologised, and the two started to come to an understanding. (CAS: "Inappropriate Behaviour") Despite this, Ruth did not want to be friends with her. (CAS: "My Aim Is True")
Adam Trueman
Ruth distracts Adam while he tries to inform a patient's relative of their death. (CAS: "Finding the Words")
In November 2007, Ruth was upset to hear that the toxicshark.com blogger had nicknamed her "Chuckles" and confronted Adam who had started using it, but Adam told her that she was exhibiting the "lack of humour" that earned her it. To get back at him, Ruth distracted him by wearing a red nose as he tried to inform a patient's relative of their death. Later, Adam claimed that he was not responsible for the blog but agreed to stop using the nickname nonetheless. (CAS: "Finding the Words")
As Ruth's superior, it was Adam's job to provide learning opportunities Ruth, but he often took a more radical approach, including refusing to assist Ruth in reviving a haemorrhaging patient. (CAS: "How Soon Is Now")
Behind the scenes
Georgia Taylor portrayed Ruth on Casualty from September 2007 to December 2011.
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