BBC Casualty star Kirsty Mitchell says 'she's had to be strong' as she talks about huge decision

Kirsty Mitchell, who plays Faith Cadogan on BBC's Casualty, is set for a significant career change in the series as her character has decided to apply to medical school to train as a doctor. This bold step comes despite Faith being a mother of three and a recovering drug addict, which naturally raises concerns about the potential pressures she may face.

Speaking to the Express, Kirsty expressed confidence in Faith's resilience: "There's a nervousness about it, and a sense of being a bit older in her career to be doing this. But it's something she wants to do and everybody's been so positive."

She continued, addressing the issue of addiction: "As far as addicts go you are always an addict but everybody's been supportive to her - all the people that count. I don't think it's [relapsing] something that she's thought about."

Kirsty also highlighted Faith's determination and ability to focus on what matters most to her: "She's very motivated, in a sense, for her career and her little box of people that are important to her and has learned to shut out other people's opinions, because she's had to be strong to come back to work in the first place."

Reflecting on Faith's journey, Kirsty suggested that pursuing a medical degree might have been an ambition waiting to surface: "When I started on the show five years ago she'd just gone back to work at that point after having a lot of time off with the kids. Maybe it's something that she's always wanted to do and always intended to do, and now that she has Iain (Dean) back in her life and has his support she feels that she has the time to do it."

Paramedic Iain (Michael Stevenson) and Faith recently got back together, much to the joy of fans, and he has stepped into a paternal role for her son Luca. Kirsty also disclosed that the move to train as a doctor isn't as significant as it appears, given that as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP), Faith is essentially performing a doctor's duties without the title.

"You don't see all the patients she treats on television - you see it now and again - but this would just be a different label for her, and she would feel less undermined with things. When you actually look into what an ACP does, it's quite similar, like a mid-level doctor anyway."

"They would be in charge of a situation. They would be in charge of anything within the room, the junior doctor [equivalent]."