CaptainQuintero Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 Private but it's pretty much standard patient confidentiality stuff across the board, both private/NHS. Especially as a lot of hospitals have private and NHS sections and the doctors work until lunchtime in one then after lunch change their name-tag and go work in the other till signing off time. I guess the fact that the caller was impersonating the Queen puts the whole situation in a strange legal position ie fraud, conspiracy to gain private information by unlawful means etc etc etc. I mean normally the person being tricked in cases of fraud etc are not usually the ones defending themselves in court.
monkey66 Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 The point is a normal person can have their life ruined if the international press start on them. It was not news, it was picking on an innocent woman who children now have to grow up without a mother.
PigFish Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 This has nothing to do with arrests, morality, the theory of marxism. Classic. "Oh Charles, go walk the smelly corgis" jajaja ... Marxism is far more interesting and relevant. -LOL -the Pig
canadianbeaver Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 The nurse that took the call committed suicide today
AverageJoe83 Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 What a shame, a person who dedicated herself to helping others pushed to this by a couple of hooligans. Dreadful.
Cohiba Stevie Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 Rediculous. The whole thing reads like a black comedy that satirises the western worlds obsession with these 'celebrities'. This is indeed a tragedy but i honestly would be seriously concerned if this was the sole reason she decided to take her own life and i know i shouldnt speculate. And like captain quintero says, its not as if the information divulged was anything that could be interpreted as a 'serious' breach of confidentiality. BBC news have reported that she was not even to be disciplined or repremanded in any way.
Wil Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 This is indeed a tragedy but i honestly would be seriously concerned if this was the sole reason she decided to take her own life and i know i shouldnt speculate. Exactly. The media is gonna beat this up. Best not to get too hysterical about it. It's tragic, but the hoaxers can hardly be held responsible.
thechenman Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 This is without a doubt a tragedy. If indeed this nurse took her own life...I would hardly say the the Aussie DJs "could hardly be held responsible". I think it some ways it relates to the cases of bullying that are so prevalent these days. I'm sure most kids who bully and play embarrassing practical jokes on others don't think the victim is going to go home and commit suicide. It certainly was not the DJs' intent for this nurse to kill herself, but there are repercussions to their actions. While one could say they are not solely to blame, one can hardly say they are without blame/responsibility. That said...I wholeheartedly agree that the media will blow this story out or proportion...and it is truly sad. Pregnancy and childbirth is and should be about life...not death.
CaptainQuintero Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 Call me cynical to the posts defending the DJs, but I'm not sure any of us really know how we would react if we are made out to be a fool to the whole world and have how foolish you are plastered across newspapers and tv screens from here to timbuktoo. Add that on top of being humiliated in front of all of your friends and colleagues and have your job called into question...yeah not sure I would say 'the DJs can hardly be held responsible'. I'm not sure where you have to be on the empathy scale to flat out state that the DJs cannot be held responsible, there is a big different between intent and consequence. Looks like legal proceedings are starting against the DJs anyway.
Cohiba Stevie Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 Call me cynical to the posts defending the DJs, but I'm not sure any of us really know how we would react if we are made out to be a fool to the whole world and have how foolish you are plastered across newspapers and tv screens from here to timbuktoo. Add that on top of being humiliated in front of all of your friends and colleagues and have your job called into question...yeah not sure I would say 'the DJs can hardly be held responsible'.I'm not sure where you have to be on the empathy scale to flat out state that the DJs cannot be held responsible, there is a big different between intent and consequence. Looks like legal proceedings are starting against the DJs anyway. I concur. Indeed the djs have some sort of responsibility for this but the extent of their responsibility will without doubt be the next media furore.
First Lady Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 I am sorry but the DJs had no idea they would be put through, the hospital should share most of the blame as their protocol was not up to standard and as they allowed the call to get through.. It is horrible that this lady took her life but for the DJs to be sued is a ridiculous
canadianbeaver Posted December 7, 2012 Posted December 7, 2012 Looks like it was a string of horrible events with plenty of blame to go around. Yes, the DJ's crossed the line of appropriate paparazzi behavior. They hit someone who was not the gold standard of security protocol. And when it hit the fan she was not the candidate to face the pressure of it all. This whole store was a non-starter to begin with. So a Royal gets a bit pukey during the first tri-mester. Who of us didn't? I mean really???
CaptainQuintero Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Lots of details not being revealed yet and lots of misinformation around too. There is something here called the 'egg shell skull' law which would mean that the DJs would be criminally responsible the same as if a bully's abuse makes someone hang themselves, regardless of pre existing health condition the victim may have outside of the bullying.
Duxnutz Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Over-the-top reaction all round. I think the prank was stupid but the ball was dropped by the hospital. Now even our grocery chain Coles is dropping advertising from the radio station.
Styler Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 It was a pretty stupid thing to do in my opinion. I know that a lot of people found this to be harmless fun, and I'm certainly no royalist, but it seems that absolutely no thought was given to the potential consequences. They can't really defend themselves by saying that they never thought they would get through, if they really thought that they wouldn't have bothered doing it. Even private hospitals don't have banks of receptionists vetting every incoming call, it's often down to a stressed out, over worked nurse to ascertain the authenticity of the caller and mistakes happen. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
AverageJoe83 Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Reading this thread has me seriously questioning some peoples morals and decency as human beings. As an American who couldn't give a tinkers damn that the people involved in the story are "The Royals", I feel strongly that these two "shock jocks" should be held accountable for their actions. They willingly and fraudulently impersonated a persons family to gain access to private matters and to what end? For a childish giggle prank that I would expect of pre-pubescent teenagers, not adults supposedly beyond the age of maturity. People then sit here and defend them on the basis of appearantly being experts themselves on hospital protocol, I ask this, have you ever worked in a hospital? Have you ever worked until exhaustion and if you have do you feel that you faculties were operating at 100% at 2 am? These 2 people took advantage of someone's situation for their own childish amusement, and through no fault of her own this poor soul felt like there was no other option than to take her own life to escape the embarrassment and ridicule that ensued. Yes they are to blame, same as the bully on the school playground who makes the other children cry because he teases them. Same mentality, same cause for blame. If you dont agree, your entitled to you own opinion, but ask yourself, what does that say about you?
Wil Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 If you dont agree, your entitled to you own opinion, but ask yourself, what does that say about you? Clearly I am evil. Or, I just think its too simplistic to hysterically blame the DJs. Sure, they are implicated. But responsible? Pranks, jokes, satire are done all the time without these tragic consequences. So clearly something is different here. I'm sure we will learn more about it and can make a more informed judgement.
Blakes Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Like someone mentioned its a sting of horrible events. Regarding the whole confidentiality thing. If you notice the receptionist answers the phone first then goes to get the nurse... as soon as the nurse is put on the phone, from her first word you can hear the anxiousness in her voice. She has most likey been told it is the Queen, so why would she think otherwise?? So the one person without fault in all this has sadly paid the highest price for just doing her job. Like CQ said the NHS and hospitals in the UK are understaffed and at breaking point more than ever at the moment.. staff especially nurses are doing crazy hours/shifts run off there feet. I know this because my brother, sister and mother are nurses in the NHS.
CBL Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 I don't see how the hospital is to blame. I also don't believe the DJ's should be sued for what happened, but they sure as hell should feel guilty for what happened. No matter what the reason for the suicide, that public disgrace didn't help and those DJ's are to blame for that. If some nutter finds another way to hijack a plane, would you blame the airport and defend the idiot who was responsible? I'm not gonna judge the prank, if things hadn't turned out this way it might have been considered a funny joke, if for some reason it was one of the funniest pranks of the year the DJ's would have enjoyed the fame, so I think it's only fair that now they carry the burden of knowing their little joke went terribly wrong. I remember Jonathan Ross & Russel Brand got into some SERIOUS trouble with the BBC when they prank called Andrew Sachs (Manuel from Fawlty Towers) and said some terrible things. Ross got suspended and Brand got fired and everybody and their cousin cried outrage about what they had done. I don't see how this is any different.
winelover Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 I don't think a civil claim by the personal representatives of the late nurse against the DJs would get off the ground. There was no duty of care owed by the DJs to the nurse and nor do I think that their actions gave rise to tortious liability. There is no cause and effect in a legal sense between their actions and her death as l am sure the DJs didn't contemplate causing her any actual harm. I can't see how the "egg shell skull rule" suggested by QC is relevant. Then again l don't practise in civil claims nor PI, still I would be amazed if our Courts allowed such a case to proceed.
canadianbeaver Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Time to see what the two DJ's can come up with to try and set things right. An event donating proceeds to the hospital, some kind of public display of compassion and community. This was a total unfortunate debacle that no one could see the outcome. Only path is one of healing. And I am not particularly religious or emotional about this stuff.
ptrthgr8 Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 If you dont agree, your entitled to you own opinion, but ask yourself, what does that say about you? Joe, there's a lot that you and I disagree about, but in this instance I couldn't have said it any better. You are 100% right. Unintended consequences are still consequences and these piece of crap DJs should be held accountable. The negligence here is simply too profound to ignore. Cheers, ~ Greg ~ Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using Tapatalk 2.
winelover Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Pranks are only funny from one viewpoint and I agree with whichever above poster said rhar they should only be played upon those you know. Irrespective of my views on the legal position, I do agree thar the DJs are absolutely culpable in a moral sense.
Wil Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Last i'll say on the topic... (lest my morality be called into question again! ) I think this article gives a pretty reasonable take on the whole thing: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/prank-callers-not-to-blame-say-mental-health-experts-20121208-2b28n.html But leading psychiatrist and former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry called for calm, saying suicide was a complex issue that was unlikely to be caused by one individual factor. "I feel sorry for them because they obviously had no intention of causing any harm. Blame is hardly ever useful," Professor McGorry said. "Most people are in a state of mental ill health leading up to when they kill themselves and it would have needed more than just that trigger to actually bring that about. You could say that a stressful life event like this was a contributory cause - and maybe she wouldn't have killed herself at this point in time without that having happened - but it was likely that there were some other factors going on too." Frank Quinlan, chief executive of the Mental Health Council of Australia, said there was a risk of compounding the tragedy by targeting the radio presenters. "It's hard to imagine that the vitriol and hatred and anger that we're seeing in this case is going to result in anything positive," he said.
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