The college yesterday published new guidelines to minimise the chance of violence in psychiatric hospitals. It recommended "well-planned" wards with space, comfort, privacy and safety which are staffed with adequate numbers of properly trained nurses and good communication between staff and patients.. The Royal College of Psychiatrists said many doctors are administering high doses of drugs to calm down aggressive patients, which some argue may contribute to sudden deaths. The college's report follows widespread concern about the increasing numbers of violent attacks on NHS staff and patients in psychiatric hospitals and casualty departments."Violence in the NHS has become much more common over the past ten years," said Dr Robert Kendell, chairman of the steering group.Overcrowding of psychiatric wards by up to 120 per cent, the threefold increase in the number of people detained compulsorily in psychiatric hospitals since 1980 - from 8,000 a year to 24,000 in England - nursing shortages and widespread drug and alcohol abuse have been blamed for the increase in violence in the NHS over the last 30 years. Schools have also held bring-and-buy sales.And as she nears the mountain, Josie also knows she will have their prayers for a safe return.. DOCTORS were yesterday urged not to prescribe drug cocktails to control mentally ill patients who may become violent, writes Glenda Cooper.

On a nurse's salary she could never have raised the pounds 30,000 cost of a commercial expedition without hefty support and she is grateful to Aer Rianta of Dublin airport, Fyffes bananas of Dundalk and her builder brothers. Wouldn't it be nice if when I was on Everest with the flag something could happen in the parallel dream of peace in the north of Ireland? People are starving for it." She also speaks fervently of her hope that youngsters in Ireland will be inspired to take their own first steps to fulfilling their dreams and turn away from drugs or alcohol.Himalayan adventurers can be cynical about their sponsors once on their mountain But not Josie. President Mary McAleese presented her with the national flag and minister of state Michael Brennan invited her to the government buildings in Dublin to hand over pounds 1,000 of climbing equipment. Sealing her celebrity status, she appeared on Ireland's premier chat programme, the Gay Byrne Show."It's a very special privilege for me to be given the flag by the First Lady in Ireland. The party was trapped on McKinley for 26 days with rations almost exhausted.Though climbing Everest is very much a personal ambition for Josie, she carries an Irish flag to fly at the summit. She seems overawed by the attention lavished on her by her country's leaders.

She reached over 7,000m on Cho Oyu in the Himalayas, reached the summit of Huascaran, the second-highest peak in South America, and the summit of Mt McKinley, the highest in North America. The seeds were sown when she was the same age as her daughter Elaine and went on a walk up Mount Keadeen in Co Wicklow with the local civil-defence group."I got a plaque and a certificate for being the first girl up the mountain and I couldn't believe it I was so excited I thought I had stood on the cornerstone of Mount Everest. It set me on the way to where I am today and that's a fact."Everest lay dormant in her thoughts until about 10 years ago, when she returned to the hills, first the walk up Donnard in the north of Ireland, then 4,000-metre peaks in the Alps, often on a shoestring of a budget. Her ascent and descent of the Matterhorn was all the more rapid because she could not afford to pay her guide for a second day. To the job description, wife of a farmer, mother of a 17-year old daughter studying for her school- leaving certificate and full-time nurse, she adds "serious mountaineer". The slower altitude acclimatisation will be useful and it is also a good opportunity to find out a bit more about one's companions on the trip.Josie seemed an interesting first subject.