Whistle Blower gets......blown away.

I've had my flabber ghasted quite a few time these last few weeks (interesting times and all that what what!) but this one takes the biscuit.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A nurse who secretly filmed for the BBC to reveal the neglect of elderly patients at a hospital has been struck off for misconduct.

Margaret Haywood, 58, filmed at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton for a BBC Panorama programme in July 2005.

She was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council which said she failed to "follow her obligations as a nurse".

Ms Haywood, a nurse for over 20 years, said she thought she had been treated harshly and had put patients first.

Ms Haywood, from Liverpool, said: "I am absolutely devastated and upset by it all. I think I have been treated very harshly. Panorama believes that Margaret Haywood has done the elderly population of this country a great service
BBC spokesman


"It is a serious issue and I knew it was a risk I was taking but I thought the filming was justified and it was in the public interest.

"I always made it clear to the BBC that patients would come first at all times."

She said she had voiced her concerns through her immediate line manager "but nothing was really taken on board" and the whole process now needed to be reviewed.

'Patients' dignity compromised'

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Whistleblowers already have full protection under the Public Interest Disclosure Act passed by this Government.

"We expect that any member of staff who reports concerns about the safety or quality of care to be listened to by their managers and action taken to address their concerns."

She was found guilty of misconduct on Wednesday following a fitness to practise hearing.

The panel said she "followed the behest of the filmmakers... rather than her obligations as a nurse".

The chair of the panel, Linda Read, said Ms Haywood had prioritised the filming, which in the view of the panel "was a major breach of the code of conduct".

She said: "A patient should be able to trust a nurse with his/her physical condition and psychological wellbeing without that confidential information being disclosed to others.
How can the NMC expect respect and confidence from the public they are supposed to be serving when they react in this deplorable and protectionist manner?
Graham, Canterbury
Send us your comments
HAVE YOUR SAY How can the NMC expect respect and confidence from the public they are supposed to be serving when they react in this deplorable and protectionist manner?
Graham, Canterbury
Send us your comments

"Although the conditions on the ward were dreadful, it was not necessary to breach confidentiality to seek to improve them by the method chosen.

She said the misconduct was "fundamentally incompatible with being a nurse".

"The registrant embarked upon filming many vulnerable, elderly patients in the last stages of their lives, knowing that it was unlikely that they would be able to give any meaningful consent to that process, in circumstances where their dignity was most compromised.

"The registrant could have attempted to address shortcomings by other means. But this was never a course of action which she fully considered."

Ms Haywood had admitted breaching patient confidentiality but denied her fitness to practise had been impaired. This makes total nonsense of all the talk about openness and transparency in the NHS. Cover-up is the order of the game
Joyce Robins, Patient Concern


Elizabeth Bloor, the BBC programme's producer, told the hearing there had been "an over-arching public interest" to produce the Undercover Nurse documentary because Panorama had received up to 5,000 complaints about conditions.

She also said that questions had been asked in the House of Commons about the issues investigated, and the Royal College of Nursing conducted research into patient dignity on hospital wards in the wake of its broadcast.

In November the panel found no evidence that Ms Haywood broke the NHS Trust's policy on whistle-blowing by raising concerns about patient care in the documentary, or that she failed to assist colleagues when a patient was having a seizure.

A BBC spokesman said: "There was clearly a strong public interest in revealing that some elderly people were not receiving the level of care we expect from our national health service.

"Panorama believes that Margaret Haywood has done the elderly population of this country a great service."

'Right and proper'

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said its code of conduct stated that surreptitious means of gaining information were permissible in the public interest, and the same should apply to whistleblowers.

Tim Gopsill, of the NUJ, said: "Sometimes the only way to get anything done is to go to the media. No-one could possibly argue that this story was not in the public interest."

The panel's ruling was also criticised by Joyce Robins, co-director of Patient Concern.

She said: "This just demonstrates the priorities of the regulators - rules come before patients every time. The message that goes out to nurses is: however badly you see patients treated, keep your face shut.

"This makes total nonsense of all the talk about openness and transparency in the NHS. Cover-up is the order of the game."

Ms Haywood's actions were also defended by Gary Fitzgerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse.

He said: "We know that we're seeing older people suffering the most appalling care and neglect too often in our care environments.

"In that context I believe what Margaret Haywood did and what Panorama did was right and proper.

"She said the public needs to be aware of what exactly's going on in these places, in these wards, we didn't have any other way of telling them and I think that's the point".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/8002559.stm

This is from Dr. Crippens blog (who I'm convinced is Rory! :laugh4:)

Quote:

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A few days ago in “Who dares blow the whistle? Who dares loses” we looked at the case of revisionist, lick-spittle ex- Comrade Nurse Margaret Haywood, who promulgated dishonest propaganda about our glorious health service. Good news, comrades. She has been proven to be a traitor to the people. She has been found guilty as charged on all counts and will soon be dispatched to the Gulag.

Comrades will recall the activities of ex-comrade Dr Rita Pal who, despite re-education, continues to spread scurrilous rumours about comrade patients dying unnecessarily in the Midlands. Comrade Pal has been deemed to be mentally ill. Her views are not to be taken seriously. Comrades caught reading Private Eye will be shot.

Our glorious leader calls on all comrades to join him in celebrating sixty-one years of social health care.

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http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/

I could launch into a tirade but I won't. Needless to say this is often the reward penalty that whistleblowers get. Suffice to say I'm disgusted and ashamed. :thumbsdown:

Yes, it's disgusting, lives are neglected for money all the time.

Oh, of course. You don't work in the business.
Whistleblowing is a way of stating that you'd rather never get promoted or a different job. You wish to spend years having snide comments made about you, and to be stonewalled by the legions of managers.

I've seen cockroaches, rats, drug errors and probably events relating to the death of one patient, probably more... of course I've never been able to recall a specific one.

Is it right? No.
Do I want to be a martyr? No

~:smoking:

A lot of the elderly care homes are a disgrace, its down to luck it you get a good one or not. Sadly one of my own grandparents suffered in them, he got hauled around several until we found a decent one, by which time he soon had to go to hospital anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InsaneApache

This is from Dr. Crippens blog (who I'm convinced is Rory! :laugh4:)

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Bremner?

There's two sides to this.
Side 1: whistleblowing is fine and all, in terms of improving the general population's lives.
Side 2: filming vulnerable adults capable of consenting without attempting to obtain consent and breaching confidentiality as a professional with power over these patients is not OK.

Part of the role. If you are going to blow the whistle on some inappropriate "x," you WILL be targeted and harmed by those perpetrating "x" or those of like mind to the perps. It is an inevitable part of the territory and the price you must be willing to pay.

Zola, Tripp, & Whitehurst, to name but a few, all paid a hefty price for their decision to "blow the whistle" on some activity.

The "wrong way" is complaining.

Even when you are right they'll move heaven and earth to ensure otherwise. A relative took her managers to tribunal due to bullying. This being the NHS there's Zero Tolerance, the Trust is a Bullying Free Zone.

2 GPs and a Professor of Occupational Health Medicine all stated that the symptoms were severe and due to external causes.

The outcome:

She was moved to another department, and swiftly promoted - she can do the job, but if she were to apply for it she wasn't even qualified for it. She also got 2 training courses in 6 months. She'd had none for the last 2 years.
The 3 perpetrators all suddenly decided to get other - equally senior jobs - elsewhere in the next 2 months.
The whole episode was called "prolonged work absence" - so no bullying, just off sick a lot.
Even the doctors in Occ Health told her to move jobs if she could...

Filming patients is rather stupid. Film teh ward, around the patients by all means, but still they'll be out to get you - and of course you'll never get another job.

~:smoking:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rory_20_uk

I've seen cockroaches, rats, drug errors and probably events relating to the death of one patient


Do I want to be a martyr? No

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Cool to know that careers are considered more important in the health industry than health.

That's the tragedy of this case. The whistleblower is destroyed, sending a clear signal to everyone in the health industry to toe the line, in a culture of silent complicity, rather than to work towards improving medical standards.

Quote:

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There's two sides to this.
Side 1: whistleblowing is fine and all, in terms of improving the general population's lives.
Side 2: filming vulnerable adults capable of consenting without attempting to obtain consent and breaching confidentiality as a professional with power over these patients is not OK.

---

Side 2, I would say, is but a shameful, cynical excuse.

I am familiar with Panorama. It is serious, investigative journalism. Journalism performs an important democratic watchdog function, and is heavily protected by law. 'Hidden camera' techniques to expose misdoings deserve legal protection. Secretly filming patients under the shower is illegal. Secretly filming patients to expose their abuse or maltreatment is a different matter altogether.

Note that no legal action was taken against the BBC. Because, I would venture to say, none would stand a chance in court.
If they are so concerned about the breach of patients rights, then why don't they drag the BBC to court? Surely, they ought to agree that this gross infringement of patients rights - which they deemed severe enough to fire someone over - must not go unpunished?


The cynicism is breathtaking. :no:

Don't blame the players, blame the system and the rules.

Careers are more important than public safety in the Police, ethics and law in government and lawyers and than honesty in accountency.

Nurses have to do unsociable hours, are at the frontline of the service, get to clean :daisy:, often work with less than the numbers they should and all for less than £30k.

Unless you want to be doing this in your 60's you need to get up in the career.

But it's widespread. French fishermen come to mind...

~:smoking:

What system/trade, public or private, doesn't shun whistleblowers?

We would all like to say "we don't!", but the truth is that we're all doing it. Nobody wants to hire someone who might cause trouble. Of any kind. For an employer, all bad PR reflects on you. So you hire people who won't give you any bad PR.

To try to blame this problem on any one thing("socialized" health care, the government, the health care industry in general, etc) is ridiculous. We all do it.

Explains the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, let's hope they'll kill us all one day, sounds just fitting for such a world. :thumbsdown:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Husar

Explains the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, let's hope they'll kill us all one day, sounds just fitting for such a world. :thumbsdown:

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GPs in the UK are going to be rated by their patients.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

But perhaps patients will rate their GP based on how happy they are in terms of getting what they want:

Inappropriate sick notes
Inappropriate drugs (narcotics / antibiotics)
Inappropriate referrals
Inappropriate investigations

So a GP who is "excellent" might have switched off their brain and be ensuring that every cough gets antibiotics, every smoker gets all the cessation medication they get irregardless of relapse, and everyone is referred, saturating hospitals with the "worried well" and every alcoholic or drug addict can top up the stuff they buy with an alternative on prescription.

Also, it takes far less time to agree to what a patient feel they need rather than explain why they might be mistaken and what other alternatives are available.

~:smoking: