Hospital Nurse Who Took Kate Hoax Call Found Dead

[bek]

The jockeys weren't out to cause the nurses to lose their jobs, and they didn't go through some elaborate scenario to try and convince the nurses that they were members of the royal family; They simply spoke in a fake English accent. The nurse broke the patient's confidentiality rule. If she had lost her job because of it then it would've been deserved.

This particular nurse didn't reveal anything on the phone. She just transferred the call. However if the Queen was on perceived reveal list than yes info could have been given... We don't know if the nurses were suspecting a call from the Queen..If the Queen had called before. Or anything like that.

And the point is they lied and said they were the Queen and the Prince...The nurses in question would have never said anything if they hadn't lied. And what exactly do they think would have happened to these nursers if they believed their prank. Not to mention this particular nurse is Indian and so maybe would not have been fully able to distinguish the accents...

Apparently this particular nurse is not a receptionist it was busy etc. Perhaps she thought the other nurse would ask for the password, perhaps the other nurse thought they had given the password to Jacinda. Fact of the matter though is that if the radio show hosts hadn't-lied and claimed to be someone they weren't. No medical info would have been given. If the nursers breached any of the hospital policy in terms of authenticating calls than they are responsible for that.

But the people who lied and claimed to be people they weren't-are the most responsible. For a brief second they were attempting to steal other people's identities in order to get information that those identities would have been priviliged to have.

[Asli]

The jockeys weren't out to cause the nurses to lose their jobs, and they didn't go through some elaborate scenario to try and convince the nurses that they were members of the royal family; They simply spoke in a fake English accent. The nurse broke the patient's confidentiality rule. If she had lost her job because of it then it would've been deserved.

I believe the facts have somewhat been lost along this thread. According to statements by the hospital, the nurse who has just died did not give any information about Kate's health condition. She simply answered the phone and put the call through to the related service. She had to pick up the phone because there was no telephone operator available, it being 5:30am. It was the second nurse who gave information.

Secondly, how do you know the nurses have broken any rules? Nowhere in the press have I read that hospitals in the UK give passwords or such to relatives, as is apparently the case in the US. If the nurses had broken any rules, they would have been suspended or at least disciplined, which wasn't the case. In all three countries I have lived in, you can call a hospital and enquire after your close relatives by giving their name and room number. The staff would not give you sensitive information such as whether the person is pregnant or the diagnosis for the patient's condition, but if they could, they would reassure you with simple things such as she is feeling better, she has slept well etc. It is all common sense.

[MacMadame]

Link? Everything I have read and seen on the news here in the UK indicates that her body was found in a nurses accommodation building round the corner from the hospital.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed...ered-questions

Here's the part in question:

Jacintha Saldanha’s body was reportedly found a few blocks away from her place of work. Why would anyone want to take his/her life on the street? Surely it is not a place for carrying out such an act.

But you are right, I redid my Google search on cause of death and found 3 other articles that gave the address where she was found and it was not on the street like this articles says.

[*Jen*]

The jockeys weren't out to cause the nurses to lose their jobs, and they didn't go through some elaborate scenario to try and convince the nurses that they were members of the royal family; They simply spoke in a fake English accent. The nurse broke the patient's confidentiality rule. If she had lost her job because of it then it would've been deserved.

And as others have said, this particular nurse only put the call through and didn't say anything. But otherwise, yes. They didn't set out to speak to the nurses and cause them to lose their jobs, they set out to be sworn at and hung up on. That was what they thought would happen when they asked to speak to 'my little Granddaughter Kate'. And she's not even the Queen's granddaughter, which is only part of why that call was absurd...

Secondly, how do you know the nurses have broken any rules? Nowhere in the press have I read that hospitals in the UK give passwords or such to relatives, as is apparently the case in the US. If the nurses had broken any rules, they would have been suspended or at least disciplined, which wasn't the case. In all three countries I have lived in, you can call a hospital and enquire after your close relatives by giving their name and room number. The staff would not give you sensitive information such as whether the person is pregnant or the diagnosis for the patient's condition, but if they could, they would reassure you with simple things such as she is feeling better, she has slept well etc. It is all common sense.

It may not be in the press, but I've said it before in this thread. Normally, when you call a hospital in the UK you have to answer security questions, which are normally questions to prove you know the patient, like their date of birth, address, room number etc. In other hospitals, you have a PIN. Even then, they'd only say what you said and not give out sensitive information.

I think in this situation, given it was early, busy and given they thought it was the Queen, they threw the rule book out.

And the point is they lied and said they were the Queen and the Prince...The nurses in question would have never said anything if they hadn't lied. And what exactly do they think would have happened to these nursers if they believed their prank. Not to mention this particular nurse is Indian and so maybe would not have been fully able to distinguish the accents...

Bek, have you listened to the call? Listened, rather than just read a transcript? My first thought when I heard it, when it first happened, was that it was unbelievable that the call was put through. They didn't set out for the call to be put through, or to get personal information about Kate. They asked to speak TO Kate, not to her nurse about private medical details. And it wasn't just the fake accents that made it totally absurd. Listen to it, and see if you still feel the same. The overblown reaction in the media seems to have obscured the tone of the call, as well as the purpose. Any reasonable person would have thought they'd be hung up on, and have a skit to play where the nurse told them to get lost.

They shouldn't have called. I'm not saying they should have, but the whole thing was so absurd that the palace never commented and Charles joked about it. He's not known for his humour - he probably wouldn't joke unless he found it funny. The media, including social media, caused the storm in the teacup.

As for the nurses suing - on what grounds? Emotional distress isn't a reason in UK or Australian law. There are no punitive damages. Damages are aimed to put you in the financial position you'd be in if you hadn't been wronged. If it were to be proven that the radio prank was directly responsible for the nurse's death, than they could have to pay the funeral costs etc, but as others have said, it's possibly not the real reason for it.

It's horrible, and it's tragic, but I think a lot of the outrage is people speaking with pure emotion and not thinking rationally about the situation at all.

[bek]

Bek, have you listened to the call? Listened, rather than just read a transcript? My first thought when I heard it, when it first happened, was that it was unbelievable that the call was put through. They didn't set out for the call to be put through, or to get personal information about Kate. They asked to speak TO Kate, not to her nurse about private medical details. And it wasn't just the fake accents that made it totally absurd. Listen to it, and see if you still feel the same. The overblown reaction in the media seems to have obscured the tone of the call, as well as the purpose. Any reasonable person would have thought they'd be hung up on, and have a skit to play where the nurse told them to get lost.

And so it would have been better for them to speak to Kate? It was after all 5:30 am in the morning in Great Britain. And as for a pin, maybe there wasn't one-who the heck knows what went on there.. The Queen's B-day unfortunately is well known-isn't it?

This particular nurse was from India (and who knows about the other nurse) she might have a more difficult time distinguishing between accents given English isn't her first language. It doesn't matter if people should have known that it wasn't the Queen or Prince Charles. The point is they pretended to be them, and when they realized their actions were actually believed-didn't put a stop to it.

If you attempt to deceive someone even as a joke-the onus starts with you. And perhaps Prince Charles laughed because he didn't know what else to do. It doesn't mean that his son found it so funny. Reports are Prince William was furious.

[*Jen*]

Reports are Prince William was furious.

Because reports about William are always SO reliable. Reports are, Kate's been pregnant since her honeymoon

The point is, you can go back and forth laying blame and it you're just going in circles. Sue is right...the DJs need to end it and take some (although I disagree with all) of the responsibility. They possibly would if they hadn't been gagged, but I'm sure that's been done so not to inflame the situation further.

[milanessa]

I don't care the reason, the thought process, the anything. Those sorts of pranks are just another form of bullying and I'm sick of them. I don't listen to radio shows that try and pull them off, I don't buy celebrity magazines and celebrity tabloids but enough people do that make that behavior profitable. Screw them all.

If anyone's life is enriched or enhanced by this garbage then it's a sad life to begin with.

[duane]

To those expressing such outrage over pranks, you've never watched Candid Camera, Just Kidding, Punk'd, Prank My Mom, Scare Tactics, or any of the many similar prank shows that have come and gone over the years? You've never played an elaborate practical or April's Fools joke on someone?

Pranks and practical jokes are here to stay. This won't change anything.

[milanessa]

To those expressing such outrage over pranks, you've never watched Candid Camera, Just Kidding, Punk'd, Prank My Mom, Scare Tactics, or any of the many similar prank shows that have come and gone over the years? You've never played an elaborate practical or April's Fools joke on someone?

Pranks and practical jokes are here to stay. This won't change anything.

Never watched any of those shows except for some reruns of the original Candid Camera. I do have a sense of humor but watching someone deliberately be put in an awkward situation doesn't trigger it. YMOV.

[*Jen*]

I don't care the reason, the thought process, the anything. Those sorts of pranks are just another form of bullying and I'm sick of them. I don't listen to radio shows that try and pull them off, I don't buy celebrity magazines and celebrity tabloids but enough people do that make that behavior profitable. Screw them all.

If anyone's life is enriched or enhanced by this garbage then it's a sad life to begin with.

I agree. My only point was that it's not just the DJs or radio station to blame, but everyone who buys into it.

To those expressing such outrage over pranks, you've never watched Candid Camera, Just Kidding, Punk'd, Prank My Mom, Scare Tactics, or any of the many similar prank shows that have come and gone over the years? You've never played an elaborate practical or April's Fools joke on someone?

Pranks and practical jokes are here to stay. This won't change anything.

Pranks and practical jokes are fine if they're harmless, but there's a huge difference between putting a whoopee cushion on a chair and tricking and humiliating someone.

I do think this has been blown out of all proportion, but I don't think it was a funny joke, even if the outcome had been different.

[bek]

To those expressing such outrage over pranks, you've never watched Candid Camera, Just Kidding, Punk'd, Prank My Mom, Scare Tactics, or any of the many similar prank shows that have come and gone over the years? You've never played an elaborate practical or April's Fools joke on someone?

Pranks and practical jokes are here to stay. This won't change anything.

There's a HUGE difference between tricking someone into lets say getting in a pie fight. And tricking someone into revealing (even a little) private medical information. And doing something that could cause someone to lose their job.

These folks impersonated a head of state in order to get access to private information. That should be a crime-I believe. And to be frank these "pranks" shouldn't be allowed on the air without the folks permission.

Isn't it illegal to tape someone's voice without their permission. I know the rule is unless their is a public interest. But considering these bozos were asking for information-they had no right to do.....One could argue no "public interest" there.

[Garden Kitty]

To those expressing such outrage over pranks, you've never watched Candid Camera, Just Kidding, Punk'd, Prank My Mom, Scare Tactics, or any of the many similar prank shows that have come and gone over the years? You've never played an elaborate practical or April's Fools joke on someone?

Pranks and practical jokes are here to stay. This won't change anything.

I think you're probably right, but I also think that's a bad thing. Jokes made at someone else's expense or that are designed to make someone look stupid aren't funny - they're just mean. Too often there is pressure on the victim to laugh along and pretend it's funny or look like a bad sport - but people shouldn't be put in that position for someone else's amusement.

[Twilight1]

I am more into the self-depreciating sense of humour or completely dark humour... not really into the type that can get people in trouble.

I am so sad for that family. Losing a loved one at christmas sucks.

[Angelskates]

Pranks and practical jokes are fine if they're harmless, but there's a huge difference between putting a whoopee cushion on a chair and tricking and humiliating someone.

Who gets to decide what's harmless? You never know how someone is going to respond, especially if that someone is a stranger. Like you keep saying, their intent was not that this woman killed herself. Their intent could be - and was by many, including Prince Charles - considered harmless.

Bek - do you think it's Prince Charles' fault too? He laughed.

I don't think the DJs should be fired - they did their jobs and made people laugh. It was in bad taste and I don't think they'll be doing it again soon, but I don't think they're responsible for the woman's death.

[suep1963]

I agree. My only point was that it's not just the DJs or radio station to blame, but everyone who buys into it.

And this is where we disagree--the DJs are the ones who set up and did this--they are to blame for it. They are the ones who did this particular action--they did not have to do this, they chose to do so, and chose to do so for very immature reasons. Just because everyone else is doing it is no argument--if everyone jumps off the bridge, does that mean we all follow? At some point you have to take responsibility for your own actions and not try to justify what you did with spurious reasons.

[bek]

Look don't get me wrong. The hospital needed to have proper protocol and if they did have proper protocol and that was violated than the nurses are to blame in that situation. But even though the nursers were to blame for not verifiying information.

That doesn't mean what the DJs did was okay. In the end they were the ones in the beginning to blame, because the purposely lied to get info they weren't eligible for. And while I do think some pranks go to far there's a huge difference between playing a prank that makes someone look silly and jeapordizing someone's career with your prank. So responsibility goes to the nursers/who ever didn't have protocol. But the primary responsibility goes to the people who came up with this to begin with. Hospitals and nursers have enough to deal with. They shouldn't have to vet out people to make sure they are really the sick family members friends. People should be decent enough to leave the sick and their family members alone. Banks shouldn't have to ferrit out people. People should be decent enough to leave people's personal finances alone.

This isn't oh give me gossip about Kate's newest dress.

[Angelskates]

I think you're probably right, but I also think that's a bad thing. Jokes made at someone else's expense or that are designed to make someone look stupid aren't funny - they're just mean. Too often there is pressure on the victim to laugh along and pretend it's funny or look like a bad sport - but people shouldn't be put in that position for someone else's amusement.

I agree, but obviously many don't. These kinds of shows have been on for years, and obviously have an audience to stay on. We have no idea how the prank-ee really felt. Some may be traumatised for life, some may kill themselves five years later because they can't get past being humiliated on TV. We just don't know. This is being made a much bigger deal because it involve the royal family, but some in the royal family found it funny. We only look at instant laughs, not long term effects.

[bek]

I agree, but obviously many don't. These kinds of shows have been on for years, and obviously have an audience to stay on. We have no idea how the prank-ee really felt. Some may be traumatised for life, some may kill themselves five years later because they can't get past being humiliated on TV. We just don't know. This is being made a much bigger deal because it involve the royal family, but some in the royal family found it funny. We only look at instant laughs, not long term effects.

Sometimes I may laugh about something but still be angry about it as well. I may laugh because I don't want to be a poor sport. Prince Charles may have laughed but I'm sure to the hospital other words were said. Frankly, I think when it comes to pranks, if your going to air them on radio or on national television. I frankly think that you should get permission from the person you pulled the prank on.... Nobody should be able to make money off someone without their permission. There's nothing newsworthy about a prank after all.

I don't think the DJs should be fired - they did their jobs and made people laugh. It was in bad taste and I don't think they'll be doing it again soon, but I don't think they're responsible for the woman's death.

I think they might be able to make the case with the right lawyers that these DJs committed a crime by impersonating a royal person into order to get access to privileged information.

And as for their jobs, well than if their bosses told them to do it-the bosses should get punished too. However fact of the matter is when you cross a line you cross the line. These DJs didn't care if their actions cost their nurses their jobs. So why shouldn't it cost them theirs. Part of their jobs too is to represent the company in a good matter. Right now their radio station is losing advertisers and facing derision.

I did my job is what a lot of people argue. Heck you have soldiers who commit war crimes who argue "I did my job." To be frank once again what the DJs did could be called not just a prank-but rather fraud. How is this any different from hackers hacking in and getting private social security numbers?

This one crosses the line between prank and fraud IMO. I mean at this point people can get information all they want and say haha we were just pulling a "prank".

Right now what these DJS are getting Angel, is a bit of karma. They are getting a taste of their own medicine.

[*Jen*]

And this is where we disagree--the DJs are the ones who set up and did this--they are to blame for it. They are the ones who did this particular action--they did not have to do this, they chose to do so, and chose to do so for very immature reasons. Just because everyone else is doing it is no argument--if everyone jumps off the bridge, does that mean we all follow? At some point you have to take responsibility for your own actions and not try to justify what you did with spurious reasons.

Yes, they are to blame, and I'm sure they'll never, ever do anything like it again.

But it's kind of chicken and egg, the rest of it. Who's leading and who's following? Commercial radio stations are businesses. Their aim is to make money and they do that by attracting listeners. Morally, they shouldn't pull stunts like that, but people seem to love listening to it. Idealistically, they shouldn't do it, but they will as long as people tune in. The listeners in general lead the stations in that sense.

It's easy to point the finger at the DJs and say it's their fault 100%, but I just don't agree. I'd put it at 50/50 between them and the people who listen gleefully.

[suep1963]

If you want that kind of audience, then yes, you'll do those kinds of stunts. However, just because you say "people want to listen to this" doesn't mean the station has to give it to them. That is their choice. And if they choose to do these kind of stunts, then I say they are responsible for their actions 100%.