It probably wasnt due to the actual prank, more the fact she would have probably lost her career over it.
Some on DS were calling for just that. All over a prank. I wonder what was said/done to this woman in the aftermath to cause such an extreme and horrible reaction. Sad, sad news.
Posters keep repeating that hospital staff are not allowed to give out any information by phone. As an NHS nurse who has also worked as an RCN rep, I can confidently state that staff are not allowed to give out any confidential details about patients such as test results, diagnoses and prognoses but all staff are allowed to give general updates such as happened in this particular case. We get bombarded with phone calls every day by concerned relatives, we're not so rude as to say sorry we can't say anything at all to you. Most of the people we talk to on the phone say how they're related and we need to accept what they say at face value, we haven't got time to go through an MI5 style interrogation just to give them a very general update. Of course, we give out a certain amount of information such as the patient has not vomited today, has kept down fluids etc. Why do people consider this to be 'confidential' information, particularly since, in this case, it was already in the public domain.
Neither of these nurses would have faced disciplinary action in an NHS hospital. It's not their fault they were victims of a silly prank. I believe the King Edward Hospital management who claim they were not going to discipline the nurse - because they really had nothing to discipline her for.
However, I can believe how mortified and embarrassed the nurses have been made to feel. I saw a thread here a few days ago calling for the nurses to be sacked for revealing such 'confidential' information. Such posts were probably made by the same type of people who are extremely rude and belligerent to me on the phone when I refuse to give any more than a general update to them about their sick relative under my care.I hope the DJs face some disciplinary action. Hoax calls are not particularly funny and nearly always have repercussions for somebody.
I was just about to make a comment about this very thing.
They should have the common sense to realise that playing it on air could cost someone there job. They didn't care, only about there own fame.
FoneJacker could've lost a lot of people their jobs too.
I simply do not think it was that big of a deal. It's unfortunate that the person has died, but to place blame squarely on two buffoons is a bit harsh.
I am sure the two DJs involved will feel very upset by the news, however to blame them is ridiculous.
It could be argued they should never have made the call in the first place but the receptionist who took the call should have had a procedure to follow if such a call had been made and forwarded the call on to the appropriate person and not taken the caller at face value.
I saw on the news the hospital were very quick to condemn the two DJs, as many on here have been, but the security services would be appalled the hospital security was so easily breached by a poor impersonation of The Queen.
The two DJs will have to live with the consequences of what they did for the rest of their lives but the real blame here lays with the hospital management for not ensuring their staff are adequately trained to deal with such circumstances.
I was in the RAF 20+ years ago, and I doubt things have changed that much in cases like this, the procedure was to take the name of the person and say the person they were asking for would call them back. Calls like this are done all the time by the security services to test military establishments security.
No, they should not have made the call in the first place. They were out to get someone's PRIVATE medical info... as a JOKE to broadcast to all and sundry.
It wasn't the DJs that cost this nurse her life. It will have been the idiotic overreaction and the slagging off/calling for her head that tipped her over the edge.
If they had not made the call, there would be no reaction at all
To all those saying not to blame the DJs: They played the prank not knowing the circumstances of the people they were playing the prank on, but that is a chance they took. They were totally irresponsible to do that.
The principle at law is that you take your victim as you find them. If you break into someone's home and they die of a heart attack, you can be found guilty of manslaughter, despite not knowing the person has a heart condition. It's a chance you take.
The point is that there are people out there who are ill, mentally or physically, who have not asked to be pranked, and who may not be able to handle the consequences of being pranked. Particularly if it could affect that person's career and their ability to put food on the table. If they are already depressed, it could push them over the edge.
There are loads of these radio pranks, and some of them just go too far. For instance, making people think their partner has cheated on them, and other things that cause distress to that person. Even if the DJ later tells the person it was a prank, it still causes distress at the time which that person may or not be able to handle. The very fact that the pranksters don't know the person they are pranking, is a reason not to do it.
I have absolutely no idea about her state of mind or any other background circumstances but if it was me I would have felt humiliated, mortified and totally embarrassed, not just because of the prank itself but because it received worldwide attention. Think I would find it difficult to face colleagues, even if they were totally supportive.
No, they should not have made the call in the first place. They were out to get someone's PRIVATE medical info... as a JOKE.
But they didn't get anyone's private medical information (although, from the way people were calling for the nurse's blood, you'd think she'd given them a blow by blow account of Kate's bowel movements).
Well they were basking in the world wide publicity being interviewed on tv and radio stations around the world and now they'll be remembered as the Prank Call Killer DJ's. :eek:
I have absolutely no idea about her state of mind or any other background circumstances but if it was me I would have felt humiliated, mortified and totally embarrassed, not just because of the prank itself but because it received worldwide attention. Think I would find it difficult to face colleagues, even if they were totally supportive.
This is the thing, I think we'd all react differently. And because we don't know what the aftermath was for her personally (as in from work, royal family, friends etc) its extremely difficult to say too much. I'm sure her bosses would have said something (with it being bad for their reputation and all) and it could have just been a gentle reminder and told her its not her fault or it could have been a bit more stronger. We don't know.
I just think its difficult to blame the DJ's for a prank. I'm sure there have been hundreds of attempts in the past but failed, this one was a rare one that got through. I'm personally not 100% sure on the procedure but I assume the call went through reception first right? If so, they should have said something.
Posters keep repeating that hospital staff are not allowed to give out any information by phone. As an NHS nurse who has also worked as an RCN rep, I can confidently state that staff are not allowed to give out any confidential details about patients such as test results, diagnoses and prognoses but all staff are allowed to give general updates such as happened in this particular case. We get bombarded with phone calls every day by concerned relatives, we're not so rude as to say sorry we can't say anything at all to you. Most of the people we talk to on the phone say how they're related and we need to accept what they say at face value, we haven't got time to go through an MI5 style interrogation just to give them a very general update. Of course, we give out a certain amount of information such as the patient has not vomited today, has kept down fluids etc. Why do people consider this to be 'confidential' information, particularly since, in this case, it was already in the public domain.
Neither of these nurses would have faced disciplinary action in an NHS hospital. It's not their fault they were victims of a silly prank. I believe the King Edward Hospital management who claim they were not going to discipline the nurse - because they really had nothing to discipline her for.
However, I can believe how mortified and embarrassed the nurses have been made to feel. I saw a thread here a few days ago calling for the nurses to be sacked for revealing such 'confidential' information. Such posts were probably made by the same type of people who are extremely rude and belligerent to me on the phone when I refuse to give any more than a general update to them about their sick relative under my care.
I hope the DJs face some disciplinary action. Hoax calls are not particularly funny and nearly always have repercussions for somebody.
I have phoned my local hospital about my uncle health, was near to death, but the nurses had a list of family names, and how we were related
so it was just a matter for me to phone and ask for the ward nurse, how jim today, she would ask who calling, and I tell Jon , jim nephew...never had any problems getting info
I simply do not think it was that big of a deal. It's unfortunate that the person has died, but to place blame squarely on two buffoons is a bit harsh.
But they didn't get anyone's private medical information (although, from the way people were calling for the nurse's blood, you'd think she'd given them a blow by blow account of Kate's bowel movements).
Dodesn't matter. They were attempting to get info by deception and impersonation
FoneJacker could've lost a lot of people their jobs too.
I simply do not think it was that big of a deal. It's unfortunate that the person has died, but to place blame squarely on two buffoons is a bit harsh.
Untrue I think, as phone jacker, would first do the prank call, then tell the person they have been prank, and ask permission to broadcast the call, so if this involved a comany cleark, the company would have to give the final go ahead
Read what I was commenting on before writing your drivel.
They never sat down KNOWINGLY saying let's get someone sacked. Have I made it plain enough for you?
Some people on this Forum:mad:
I know you said they didn't knowingly do it but if they thought about they could have seen it a as a potential consequence. I said I don't think you should make a call if you can see that a as a potential consequence. I don't think it is their fault but I do think they made poor judgement with the call. Obviously if they had knowingly done it, it would have been a malicious call not a prank one. Obviously they didn't know that it would lead to this
No, they should not have made the call in the first place. They were out to get someone's PRIVATE medical info... as a JOKE to broadcast to all and sundry.
They didn't get any private medical information and people going hysterical and pretending the nurse or receptionist did release confidential information or did something terribly wrong are the ones putting insane pressure on them. After one person died you'd think they'd ease up a bit but apparently not.
It certainly wasn't that call that made that nurse kill herself.
I've listened to it a few times & she must have only been on the phone to them about 5 seconds. She answered the phone with the name of the hospital. The female dj (Queen) asked "Can I please speak to Kate,please,my grandaughter?", & that nurse just answered "Oh yes, just hold on a moment" and put her through to the ward where the person who answered them gave out all personal information.
The knee jerk reaction like on here isn't going to help anyone. They have all different rules for the radio stations in Australia. Some of the bad language that gets on air in their phone in programmes would keep Ofcom here very busy all year. If someone on our phone in shows should suddenly say "bloody", there's non stop apologies for offending anyone :rolleyes:
Anyway, there must have been something wrong with her before this come up.
And if they did the hospital was quite right to do so. They have customers who pay a very high premium for a certain service. The business is partly built on secuirty. It could cost them alot of money. The staff contracts would have contained clauses about this sort of thing.
Listen, I work as as a doctor, the information governance rules are that callers have to "adequately" identify themselves before you can discuss patient details,
In actual life Adequate identification usually means asking how the caller is related is to the patient, we don 't spend time interrogating patient's relatives on their identities unless their is due cause, not only it's time-wasting but it can obviously add to the distress of relatives worried about their loved ones.
In these circumstances we don't go into detail about the status of the patient apart from if they are well are not.
These nurses didn't go into detail about the patient's blood pressure, whether they received IV fluids or how many times she vomited they just said that the patient was asleep.
They broke no rules, the staff were duped.
Listening to the recording it may be obvious that these are pranksters, but I ask you if were the staff on that day on a busy ward, that knew a member of a royal family was a resident and you received a phone call from a presumed member of the royal family, would you potentially risk offending them by interrogating them on their identity?
the hospital is now trying to cover it's back by saying that they offered "full support" to both nurses. Frankly I find this laughable , management in it's bureaucratic way would have have held an investigation holding both of these women responsible. This is a hospital that has a long tradition of "discretion" with the royal family, any deviation however innocent would have been crushed without thought.
No, they should not have made the call in the first place. They were out to get someone's PRIVATE medical info... as a JOKE to broadcast to all and sundry.
And the security services make such calls all the time to test security.
I can't believe there wasn't a procedure for the nurse to follow and if she had there would have been no JOKE to broadcast to all and sundry.
However the reality is that she was probably never told what the procedure was, or where it was located for reference, in the first place.
Austriala has brodies law, which refores to bully who cause someones death through suicide, could the dj be charged under thius law, I dont know
as for any other law, there could be something to charge them with only time will tell, and the fact laywers are now involved again raises some questions
Couldn't they in theory be charged under the same laws that Twitter trolls have been charged under recently?
FoneJacker could've lost a lot of people their jobs too.
I simply do not think it was that big of a deal. It's unfortunate that the person has died, but to place blame squarely on two buffoons is a bit harsh.
How could phonejacker have cost peoples their jobs?
Was it a company rule not to serve people 14 bacon rolls?
Nope but it is a company rule in the hospital that NO INFORMATION is be given to people over the phone without confirmation that they are allowed such info. I doubt even they are allowed to confirm at a person is even at that hospital when you look at the type of people that would use it
Comments
Inconceivable that the head of the station, other senior managers and their lawyers weren't woken up as soon as this news broke.
Some on DS were calling for just that. All over a prank. I wonder what was said/done to this woman in the aftermath to cause such an extreme and horrible reaction. Sad, sad news.
I was just about to make a comment about this very thing.
OZBOT!
FoneJacker could've lost a lot of people their jobs too.
I simply do not think it was that big of a deal. It's unfortunate that the person has died, but to place blame squarely on two buffoons is a bit harsh.
No, they should not have made the call in the first place. They were out to get someone's PRIVATE medical info... as a JOKE to broadcast to all and sundry.
If they had not made the call, there would be no reaction at all
this x10
Completely agree 100%
But they didn't get anyone's private medical information (although, from the way people were calling for the nurse's blood, you'd think she'd given them a blow by blow account of Kate's bowel movements).
This is the thing, I think we'd all react differently. And because we don't know what the aftermath was for her personally (as in from work, royal family, friends etc) its extremely difficult to say too much. I'm sure her bosses would have said something (with it being bad for their reputation and all) and it could have just been a gentle reminder and told her its not her fault or it could have been a bit more stronger. We don't know.
I just think its difficult to blame the DJ's for a prank. I'm sure there have been hundreds of attempts in the past but failed, this one was a rare one that got through. I'm personally not 100% sure on the procedure but I assume the call went through reception first right? If so, they should have said something.
I have phoned my local hospital about my uncle health, was near to death, but the nurses had a list of family names, and how we were related
so it was just a matter for me to phone and ask for the ward nurse, how jim today, she would ask who calling, and I tell Jon , jim nephew...never had any problems getting info
The only unfortunate one is yourself.
Dodesn't matter. They were attempting to get info by deception and impersonation
Untrue I think, as phone jacker, would first do the prank call, then tell the person they have been prank, and ask permission to broadcast the call, so if this involved a comany cleark, the company would have to give the final go ahead
I know you said they didn't knowingly do it but if they thought about they could have seen it a as a potential consequence. I said I don't think you should make a call if you can see that a as a potential consequence. I don't think it is their fault but I do think they made poor judgement with the call. Obviously if they had knowingly done it, it would have been a malicious call not a prank one. Obviously they didn't know that it would lead to this
They didn't get any private medical information and people going hysterical and pretending the nurse or receptionist did release confidential information or did something terribly wrong are the ones putting insane pressure on them. After one person died you'd think they'd ease up a bit but apparently not.
I've listened to it a few times & she must have only been on the phone to them about 5 seconds. She answered the phone with the name of the hospital. The female dj (Queen) asked "Can I please speak to Kate,please,my grandaughter?", & that nurse just answered "Oh yes, just hold on a moment" and put her through to the ward where the person who answered them gave out all personal information.
The knee jerk reaction like on here isn't going to help anyone. They have all different rules for the radio stations in Australia. Some of the bad language that gets on air in their phone in programmes would keep Ofcom here very busy all year. If someone on our phone in shows should suddenly say "bloody", there's non stop apologies for offending anyone :rolleyes:
Anyway, there must have been something wrong with her before this come up.
No they never. It was a joke, and if you listen to the call on youtube, the accents were terrible.
Do hospitals not have procedures, surely not anyone can just ring up.
Sad, but also a blo0dy stupid ending to what was basically a joke.
Listen, I work as as a doctor, the information governance rules are that callers have to "adequately" identify themselves before you can discuss patient details,
In actual life Adequate identification usually means asking how the caller is related is to the patient, we don 't spend time interrogating patient's relatives on their identities unless their is due cause, not only it's time-wasting but it can obviously add to the distress of relatives worried about their loved ones.
In these circumstances we don't go into detail about the status of the patient apart from if they are well are not.
These nurses didn't go into detail about the patient's blood pressure, whether they received IV fluids or how many times she vomited they just said that the patient was asleep.
They broke no rules, the staff were duped.
Listening to the recording it may be obvious that these are pranksters, but I ask you if were the staff on that day on a busy ward, that knew a member of a royal family was a resident and you received a phone call from a presumed member of the royal family, would you potentially risk offending them by interrogating them on their identity?
the hospital is now trying to cover it's back by saying that they offered "full support" to both nurses. Frankly I find this laughable , management in it's bureaucratic way would have have held an investigation holding both of these women responsible. This is a hospital that has a long tradition of "discretion" with the royal family, any deviation however innocent would have been crushed without thought.
And the security services make such calls all the time to test security.
I can't believe there wasn't a procedure for the nurse to follow and if she had there would have been no JOKE to broadcast to all and sundry.
However the reality is that she was probably never told what the procedure was, or where it was located for reference, in the first place.
Couldn't they in theory be charged under the same laws that Twitter trolls have been charged under recently?
How could phonejacker have cost peoples their jobs?
Was it a company rule not to serve people 14 bacon rolls?
Nope but it is a company rule in the hospital that NO INFORMATION is be given to people over the phone without confirmation that they are allowed such info. I doubt even they are allowed to confirm at a person is even at that hospital when you look at the type of people that would use it