Nurse who exposed neglect and abuse of elderly patients is struck off.

[edam]

good grief Bloody regulators. How DARE they order nurses to shut up and keep quiet about malpractice? What are the chances that anyone will dare to speak out now?

The NMC should be apologising for being so crap that they allow this sort of treatment to continue, and that they haven't struck off anyone responsible for wrong-doing at the hospital in question. Not lashing out at the whistle-blower. FGS.

I only saw the trailer so excuse me........

So in reference to mp's point, it makes what she did technically illegal? Is that right? But was it right or wrong on a moral basis? If that was my granny or my mum I'd want someone going all out to change things for them.

It is an absolute disgrace how we treat old people in this country in general, not relating to this specific case (sorry, I'm hijacking!), and so anything someone does to raise better attitudes is good for me.

My FIL has been seriously ill in hospital for the last 8 weeks, in and out of intensive care. He gets fantastic treatment in intensive care and then.....on a 'normal' ward.......forgotten when he is sitting on a commode and falls when he desperately tries to get off himself, not helped in and out the shower (when he is very,very weak) and so falls and damages his op wound resulting in a further two scans to assess internal damage. Left to slowly go mentally bonkers with frustration.

On children's wards they little charts to assess the mental state of the child so care and medication can be adapted for them. For children, this is invaluable as they are often incapable of explaining how they feel. For the elderly..........they are left feeling vulnerable and hugely frustrated. The doctors say to us that my FIL has given up trying and is mentally down..........yup, true. Because he is treated with no care. He is a battery chicken.

Why should that be right?
Why should it be wrong the someone tries to go all out to make a difference?

she was wrong to film. end of.
people are saying she was right to expose it.
there are procedures that were in place for it to be exposed and dealt with correctly. she didn't follow them. end of! so actually, had she followed the procedures properly, the incidents of mistreatment might have been dealt with properly. but now we will never know.

sorry 2shoes but this is hardly new. there have been a million cases like this highlighted before through the proper channels and often once a patient has died. nothing has changed so far...........

there are tools to assess a patient holistically. whether they are used correctly or not depends on the ward.
In the end, it boils down to money. in ICU it is 1:1 whereas on a normal ward you could be looking at 1:20. A nurse can only be stretched so far. There is only so much money in the pot for health care assistants. It is terrible, but that is what it is reduced to: not enough money to pay more staff

oh sorry, that should have read 2manyeggs! Are you 2shoes? Have I just insulted everyone [twitches]

i still agree with edam on this one

ok, so my point remains.........is it wrong not to try to change it?

I've got to run. Just saying that to clarify that I am not flouncing

while professionaly it was the wrong way to expose neglect and mistreatment of patients, i suspect the nurse like many many others felt there was no alternative. the right system for reporting doesn't work. noting changes despite staff screaming out for help and support. if what she did helps change the way some people treat vulnerable patients, if the NHS and NMC take notice of what has happened then she will have succeded in what she setout to do and that was to change practice by exposing what really happens.

The people who ave struck her off ought to be ashamed of themsleves.

The nurse who was suspended got her job back after she offered to pray for someone. I like to think public outrage played a part.

Round two anyone?

Riven, that is terrible about your daughter. But it DOES work. As a student nurse, I have seen some terrible things. My fellow student nurses too. I have reported 2 staff nurses, both who have been qualified for 4/5 years. It was annonymous, but I have no doubt in that they knew it was me. I have refused to do certain things as I KNOW they are not safe or suitable for that patient. My last placement was brilliant, and the best care I've seen yet on a general ward. It really does vary from trust to trust (which I know it shouldn;t...but it does)

mp How do you know she didn't try and do anthing first?

Riven - the refusal to acknowledge or put right the attempts to kill your daughter with incompetence should be shocking. But sadly I'm not that surprised.

And that is why we need people, nurses, doctors, HCAs and others who are prepare to stand up and say 'this is wrong'. Not 'how dare you raise this, ooh, you didn't fill in the right form...'

Muffin that was the conclusion of the ruling

Whistleblowing is for when the systam doesn't work. Not instead of using the system.

she didn't though, did she riven? she didn't even try the correct route first.
filming people without their consent does not come under the heading 'use every method to bring bad trusts to light'

I fully understand the basis of the case taken against the nurse. But I fail to understand the lack of action against the managers and other nurses in this ward.

oh, and riven, making a complaint and actual whistle blowing are slightly different.

i have worked on a acute medical ward for 8 yrs ,many times it has been dangerousley understaffed ,infact i remember one shift where i was the only qualified for 30 patients until they found a relief nurse ,i had a critically ill patient (who later died ) and even the bed manager said 'this is really bad ' , did i have the time to fill out a form that takes at least 10 minutes ? did i fuck, i was too busy trying to ensure that the 30 people under my care were pain free , had observations within normal boundaries ,were fed , were clean , discussed their ongoing care with the at least 60 relatives who came to see them ,do you see where i am going with this ? Maybe she was wrong to film ,shame on her ,but if she has done many of these shifts that i describe above maybe she was at breaking point , just maybe she thought 'if i do this ,we will get enough staff to ensure we can provide the best care possible '. It would be interesting to see if the staffing numbers went up in the area she filmed following this ? Oh and for those who suggest followng the filling form out and alerting line manager route ,well ive filled so many bloody forms out i may be wholly responsinble for the destruction of the brazillian rainforest ,and my line manager and the modern matron were well aware of the staffing levels ,but is was a weekend ,so what can you do eh

sorry if i got emotional but the patient who died had been with us many weeks and went from a ews score of zero to 6 and i had to threaten the dr on call with calling the resus ,before he would come and see her , and she was the lovliest ,sweetest ,person you could ever wish to meet ever ,and my only consolation is that her family got to be with her before she died .

right im off to blub in my wine now ,can as not working tomorrow

tip of the day should be dont get ill on a weekend

That's a terrible story, newname. But sadly I'm sure not unique.