Panorma Nurse sacked for her disclosures

[Whoever]

What a disgrace that this brave nurse has had her licence to practice as a nurse withdrawn for highlighting the dreadful treatment suffered by the elderly in an NHS hospital. We will all be old one day. She has done the nation and the NHS a great service by letting us know what has been happening. I hope everybody who feels strongly about this will email the Nursing and Midwifery Council to complain about the appalling treatment they have dished out to her. You can e-mail them at:

[email protected]

[VHG]

Panorma?

Or do you mean Panorama

[VHG]

While I do have some sympathy for her, can you really have people walking round hospitals (or any other official location) with secret cameras?

Maybe a guy who wanted to take pictures of patients in various states of undress for example?

I know they are not totally like for like, but I think you have to make a strong rule to stop people making secret movies without the patients approval or knowledge.

Having said that, it always seems to be the whistleblowers who are sacked, never the people in charge who provide such awful conditions.

[Whoever]

Yes I did mean Panorama - it was a typo.
Whatever happened to the Whistle Blowers charter?

Surely we will never get the rotten things in our society changed if we penalise those who have the courage to stand up and be counted?

Hasn't she done something infinitely more valuable than all those highly paid hospital bureaucrats who have just been walking round hospitals with clipboards ticking their "Targets" boxes?.

[rov1200]

I often wonder why this sort of practice only occurs in NHS hospitals and not private ones. The capita per patient must be higher in the NHS. The wages must be similar. The most modern equipment is used. Staffing levels must be on a par. I wish I knew the answer?

It must be something to do with the structure. In times gone by we had matrons, the nurses were a lot less qualified, the pay then was abysmal, and yet the caring was more in evidence.

Maybe someone can put their finger on it?

[sqad617]

rov....private hospitals, slower turnover, NHS hospitals greater turnover because of "targets"................great er the chance of infection............simple as that.

Matron will NEVER return because, authority and discipline would not now be tolerated by the staff. We are stuck with an ageing and expensive health service, which cannot be sustained, because no political party dare upset the electorate by suggesting that the NHS needed major reform.

[Whoever]

sqad - I have to disagree with you. I will never accept that we have to tolerate such sloppy standards and not protest about them. We're all paying huge amounts from our taxes to fund the NHS and I believe we have a right to stand up, protest and demand that standards be improved when problems are found. . I'm a great believer that if you allow apathy to rule, you get what you deserve. Public opinion and pressure in such circumstances can often trigger change for the better. But if everybody sits back and does nothing, when we are old, frail and vulnerable the same old low standards will still apply.

[sqad617]

Whovever....i didn't say that we should "accept sloppy standards" and I hope that I didn't imply that either.

I agree with all you say.

[what..the?]

I think the problem is poor training, discipline, attention to detail, and overall empathy and care for the individual patients.

Having years of experience of the NHS, just once myself in hospital for one nights observation after a car crash but years of visiting, day in, day out relatives and friends who were patients, some of which died due to the poor care they received in hospital.

I can see many people are to blame from the politicans not pushing standards to the suits running the hospitals down to the bed side nurse.

Having witness bedside care alot I can comment mostly on the nurses flaws and that would be,

1) Poorly trained with lack of attention to detail - they dont seem to know what they are doing most the time I have seen them squirt drugs and liquid food all up the walls and give patients not only the wrong drugs but administered it in the wrong way. They have also failed to check on patients regulary enough and attach equipment to allow monitoring of vitals from nurse bay resulting in death of young person in the night not to be discovered dead until next morning by family member.

2) Lack of empathy and care, quite often I get the impression the nurses just dont care at all for the patients, if they die they die kind of attitude, and they give the impression any help they give is too much and you feel you can't ask for anything because their too busy and they just sigh loudly at you, everythings too much trouble. Also if you complain about anything or see other people being mistreated you are threatened to keep quiet. At the end of the day they might hold your life in their hands as a general rule your encouraged to shut up, be quiet and dont complain. Not really a good atmosphere for a hospital where you have to get better.