Panorama Nurse has licence withdrawn for her elderly abuse disclosures

Primrose

Not money savings but I wonder if anybody else, like me, was shocked by the fact that the Nursing and Midwifery Council have withdrawn the licence to practice of Nurse Margaret Haywood for her brave under-cover reporting of the abuses which the elderly were suffering in an NHS hospital?

One day you and I might be one of those elderly people with nobody to voice concerns on our behalf to ensure that we are treated in a professional and caring way. Florence Nightingale must be turning in her grave. That a professional body spends more time pontificating about patient confidentiality than ensuring that their profession adheres to high standards is a shocking state of affairs. I am sure many conscientious and hard working nurses in the NHS will be appalled at this decision.

If you feel as I do, please email the Nursing and Midwifery Council at
[EMAIL="fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org"]fitness.to.practise@nmc-uk.org[/EMAIL] and let them know your feelings.

Jennifer_Jane

Hi Primrose - here's what I've written:

"I am appalled that Margaret Haywood has been struck off for her secret filming on Panorama. There is a notion of free speech in this Country which is what retains democracy here. Whistleblowers should be promoted and applauded not punished.

The BBC have said: Panorama believes that Margaret Haywood has done the elderly population of this country a great service
I agree with them. A nurse dedicated to the welfare of her patients is becoming rarer and rarer. I believe that by having Margaret Haywood struck off the population (not just the elderley population) of this country have been done a disservice of colossal magnitude.

Jen
x

MrsE_2

I've emailed too.

summerday

I have emailed too and echoed your sentiments.

Errata

It's a difficult situation. The nurse has been struck off for filiming and not telling the patients they were being filmed, although their permission or that of their relatives was sought and given before the program was broadcast.
Although she clearly had the patients interests at heart, it remains that nurses must not film patients without their permission. If it were otherwise what would prvent nurses filming patients for nefarious purposes ?

monkeyspanner

Although the principle of patient privacy should be upheld it is often used by the medical establishment as a barrier to proper disclosure and improvements. In this case patient privacy has been seen as more important than upholding standards of basic medical care and consequently the patient's health.

We are all video taped every day in the UK and all without our permission for use by organisations we have no control over including Hospitals.

It does seem perverse that this nurse who felt strongly enough to try to bring these matters to the attention of the public should have her ability to earn a living removed whilst the other staff who were deglecting basic care of the elderly are not similarly punished.

The culture of cover up and neglect is endemic in the NHS and care for the elderly in the NHS is a disgrace. Many elderly patients leave hospital in a malnourished condition because they cannot feed themselves and the staff don't bother or suffer hospital infections because basic hygene proceedures are not followed. We are told these are isolated incidents in particular hospitals, they are not.

I for one would be happy to contribute a small amount to any NHS whistle blower who found themselves in this situation. It is our NHS, that we pay or have paid for. This is make or break time for this way of delivering health sevices in the UK IMHO.

I will e-mail expressing my disgust.

monkeyspanner

I had a look at the NMC website and it seems that the majority of strikings-off have been for sexual misconduct in the last 4 months. So I have e-mailed as follows.

Dear Sirs
I wish to protest regarding the decision to strike-off Margaret Heywood. I and many others in the public view this decision as disproportionate and another example of the nursing/medical profession closing ranks to punish and exclude any colleague who dares to raise a voice of dissent. To state that there are proper channels within the NHS to raise issues of concern is laughable. I have seen at first hand the disgraceful and unprofessional treatment the elderly suffer in NHS hospitals. Even the most basic of nursing care is systematically deglected and many elderly leave hospital malnourished as a result.

I have attempted to find on your website statistics regarding striking-offs and can only find some press releases the majority of which involve inappririate sexual behaviour or assaults. Where are the cases of striking-off for deglecting patients?

As I cannot find the information please take this e-mail as a formal request for information as to how I obtain information regarding striking off statistics under the freedom of information act.


Apparently they are receiving an unusually high volume of telephone calls and e-mails at the moment. I wonder why.

MrsE_2

I received this reply

Thank you for your email.

There has been significant media interest concerning the decision of an independent panel of the Nursing & Midwifery Council’s Conduct and Competence Committee to strike off Margaret Haywood from the register.

The view of the independent panel was that Margaret Haywood’s actions in breaching patient confidentiality represented a major breach of ‘The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives’ by which all nurses and midwives must abide. Based upon the evidence it heard, the independent Panel decided that Margaret Haywood’s fitness to practise was impaired by reason of misconduct.

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. Only in the most exceptional circumstances should the cardinal principle of patient confidentiality be breached. Based upon the evidence it heard, the panel did not believe that this was the case and although the conditions on the ward were serious, it was not necessary to breach confidentiality to seek to improve them by the method chosen. The panel believed that the method was unlikely to benefit the patients that were on the ward at the time of filming and under Margaret Haywood’s care.

The full Reasons for this case are on the NMC's website.


Talk about shoot the messenger?
I honestly believed whistle-blowing was welcomed:(

Primrose

Yes, I received an identical reply. Looks like they had to produce something quickly to fend off the large number of protests they've been receiving. It's shocking that whistle blowers are not protected when complaints were previously made and not dealt with promptly. Seems to me that the whole management system in the NHS needs a jolly good shake-up. I feel really sorry for the many conscientious and efficient nurses who are working in the NHS and trying to do a good job against this kind of background. Who will protect them now? They must be feeling very demoralised and the good ones deserve our support. The anonymous Nursing Council panel members and NHS management at the hospital concerned will doubtless close ranks. I wish we had more leaders in public life who would have the honour and courage to stand up and admit that "The Buck Stops Here".

andyrules

Actually, I read into the situation an insidious and threatening message that anyone who doesn't comply silently with low standards will be punished. Jennifer Jane is correct, we are a democracy and should be in no fear of speaking out for evil and the protection of the vulnerable.

Maybe MPs, rather than the NMC, should be lobbied over this scandal?

Errata

The fault lies with Alan Johnson, secretary of state for health. It is in his gift to ensure care is available and delivered.
It was right that the nurse was struck off, she fully understood that was both possible and probable. There is little point, or value, in a nurses governing body that stands idly by whilst nurses please themselves about how they should behave.
Don't blame the NWC for this decision. Disgust and derision should be directed at Alan Johnson and all the nurses and doctors and managers who are part of the culture that allows unacceptable standards to prevail in hospitals.