Hospital Nurse Who Took Kate Hoax Call Found Dead

[MacMadame]

If you think it's so damn sad, well, what do you intend to do about it?

I, for one, am going to hold my breath until I turn blue. So there!

You may think that people who don't agree with you are trying to "excuse the inexcusable" but what people who disagree with you are trying to tell you is that they don't think what the DJs did was inexcusable. While I don't think it was particularly funny and I don't watch or listen to shows like this, I don't think the DJs did anything wrong and I'm much more appalled that people working in a hospital have so little training that they'd just put someone through without vetting them and/or start blathering on about someone's health without a single question as to who they are.

As for prank calls not equaling fraud, why can't it become fraud at one point?

Because fraud has a legal definition.

[Angelskates]

What am I doing? I too do not participate in watching those shows or listening to those stations. I also tell people that I think it was an unethical thing to do. And when you continue to call me out for that, I continue with my protest. Am I suppose to say "Oh Angelskates--you are right--I am tilting at windmills in thinking that being a lone voice in the wilderness with make a difference. Let me just shut up and sit in the corner and forget about it"

I do not have the time nor energy to go back through all your posts (and I'm talking directly to you, since you seem to be so interested in singling me out) but you seem to have started out with it wasn't that big a deal, to the point now where you are saying it wasn't a good thing to do. I seem to have been saying it wasn't a good thing to do the entire time. You say it wasn't a simple thing for the DJs--I say it was--simply say "no I'm not going to do this" If you have to put an idea past your company lawyers perhaps that should be an indication that it's a stupid thing to do. And they did run it past the lawyers, so you know they knew that what they were doing was questionable. Do I think the DJs should lose their jobs? Well, I've said it over and over that personal responsibility means facing the consequences of your actions. It doesn't matter what they meant to happen--they may say "oh, we thought we wouldn't get through" Doesn't matter what they thought or meant--this is the real world we live in. You do something that causes harm, the harm is real. It is not the harm of the death--because we still do not know (as far as I can tell) what the exact cause of death was. They intended to do an action to invade the privacy of someone who was extremely ill. That is harm enough. What kind of person thinks something like that is funny? They started the whole event--that is what they are responsible for. Poor, poor DJs--who you are casting in the role of traumatized victims themselves. Traumatized be damned--they did this to themselves, of their own free will. It's called CONSEQUENCE, not trauma. I hope they are feeling horrible about the whole thing--for if they are not, then they are heartless, soulless creatures. But they are not victims of anything but their own stupidity and complete lack of compassion.

You think the station manager put them up to the stunt? Well, they still did it. They didn't say no, they went running for the phones, giggling like stupid bullies on the playground--and splashed it all over their web site as well. "oooohhh--check it out--see what clever fellows we are--big hoax coming up--join the fun!" And now you say they shouldn't be penalized for what they did. Yet you say you teach your kids about bullying. Are you for it or against it? Which way are you going here? Do you say "their actions were wrong and they should face the consequences of those actions" or do you say "their actions were wrong--but they didn't mean it, so nothing should happen to them"

You ask me what I am doing about it--I am going to continue to state the same thing over and over and over. Ask me as many ways as you wish, my answer will be the same. And I will continue to stand up for the abused, the bullied, the victims of "practical" jokes and pranks where ever I witness it. I will not be the one saying it's harmless, of no consequence or the awful phrase "it's something you need to learn to live with". One thing I will not be doing is making excuses for anyone participating in any of these actions.

And you think I should "Oh suep --you are right--I am tilting at windmills in thinking that being a lone voice in the wilderness with make a difference. Let me just shut up and sit in the corner and forget about it". I have said over and over I think that the joke was not funny, and the DJs did the wrong thing. The DJs didn't start the whole event, their bosses did. I've never said that the DJs don't deserve a consequence. I have said just the opposite, in fact. Over and over, and in the post you last quoted. I don't agree with you on what that consequence should be.

Yet you say you teach your kids about bullying. Are you for it or against it? Which way are you going here?

I am doing something practical to try and educate kids, parents and teachers about bullying. Of course, I am against it. I find this comment incredibly insulting. I believe bullies should have consequences, and I believe they need educating. I think those being bullied also need to be part of that education. I don't think all kids who bully should be suspended from school, I don't think all adults should be fired. You implying that I am for bullying because I disagree with you about the consequence is insulting.

Do you think the nurse who gave the confidential information should be fired? Or disciplined?

I think the reaction to the DJs - sending them death threats, extreme hate mail etc. is just as much bullying than the phone call they made. Do you think they deserve death threats and extreme hate mail?

Bullying, by the way, is habitual behaviour, so while the DJs may (or may not, I don't know their backgrounds) be bullies, their behaviour wasn't bullying. Not all mean/stupid behaviour is bullying. The nurse who answered the phone wasn't bullied, she was asked some questions, she wasn't pestered or "forced" to answer. She wasn't continually called until she gave the information, she gave it up easily, without any pressure, straight away it seems. One-off prank calls aren't bullying. Prank calling the same person over and over is bullying, and someone who pranks many people habitually is a bully. What the DJs did was stupid, but it wasn't bullying.

[bek]

I am doing something practical to try and educate kids, parents and teachers about bullying. Of course, I am against it. I find this comment incredibly insulting. I believe bullies should have consequences, and I believe they need educating. I think those being bullied also need to be part of that education. I don't think all kids who bully should be suspended from school, I don't think all adults should be fired. You implying that I am for bullying because I disagree with you about the consequence is insulting.

Do you think the nurse who gave the confidential information should be fired? Or disciplined?

I think the reaction to the DJs - sending them death threats, extreme hate mail etc. is just as much bullying than the phone call they made. Do you think they deserve death threats and extreme hate mail?

I don't agree with the death threats at all.. However I think they are getting a little bit of a taste of their own medicine too. What they do to others with their silly pranks. However of course the death threats are wrong and I think its wrong just they are getting blamed.

However when you play with fire and certainly going after a highly famous person like Kate and intrude into others privacy its what you get.

I do think them AND their radio station deserve to be made an example of in terms of that radio station losing its license. And if they broke laws-yes it needs to end too. I'm sorry its my job crap. Nobody has a right to humilate other people for entertainment. Or use somebody like that without their permission. Those nurses did not agree to go on the radio show.

I am doing something practical to try and educate kids, parents and teachers about bullying. Of course, I am against it. I find this comment incredibly insulting. I believe bullies should have consequences, and I believe they need educating. I think those being bullied also need to be part of that education. I don't think all kids who bully should be suspended from school, I don't think all adults should be fired. You implying that I am for bullying because I disagree with you about the consequence is insulting.

You have said those DJs didn't deserve to be fired they were just doing their jobs. However the one nurse should be. The one nurser thought she was talking to people who had clearance more than likely. These folks they were purposely trying to deceive.

[AxelAnnie]

Honestly? Yes. If the hospital has instructed their staff that they are not to give out any info at all unless the person on the other end of the line had a password or some other form of security question they can answer, then they are not to tell anyone anything. If it really was the President and the nurse in question was called on the carpet for not telling him anything, he or she can answer with confidence that security protocol was not followed and the rules are the rules. No sane administrator is going to fire someone for following their own instructions.

And yes, I was one of the people saying the nurse(s) in question should have been fired for letting such calls slip through, but it's my own fault for not fully comprehending the level of media obsession aimed at these women. I take that back and apologize. With any other normal patient, it probably would have been a stiff reprimand from the hospital and everyone going on with their day. But this media insanity took it to level one billion and what should have been a slap on the hand turned into a horrible, horrible tragedy.

The DJs in question are (I hope) feeling remorse for their stunt and I also hope they do something to help the children who are now without their mother. Their half-hearted apology earlier didn't cut it for me at all. People don't need to be calling the DJs with death threats, they need to be talking to each other about how crap like this can go too far and how to avoid it in the future. But that may be optimistic to the point of ludicrous.

My uncle was in the hospital several times in the last year. I handle all his medical affairs. both my sainted aunt and I required passwords before we were given one single m9rsel of information......and we are nobodies. How that hospital let something like that happen with the future Queen I beyond me.

[Angelskates]

I'm with suep in thinking the DJ's should lose their jobs even if their bosses put them up to it. They could have said no. I don't believe they would have been fired or punished for not doing a questionable prank. Besides, it wasn't even funny IMO - it was more like "Prince Albert in a can" or "is your refrigerator running". The DJ's sound like elementary school age morons.

Do you think all pranksters should be fired if making pranks is part of their job? What about a comedian who insults someone as part of the job, but you don't think the joke is funny? I don't think the prank was funny either, but what makes this one worse than any other? That nurse gave out the information? Do you think the nurse should also be fired?

[bek]

Do you think all pranksters should be fired if making pranks is part of their job? What about a comedian who insults someone as part of the job, but you don't think the joke is funny? I don't think the prank was funny either, but what makes this one worse than any other? That nurse gave out the information? Do you think the nurse should also be fired?

Angelskates plenty of pranksters have gotten fired lost their jobs-when they cross certain lines. A prank would have been calling a restaurant setting up a dinner for the Queen and her Corgis. That's a prank. And while a little embarrassed nobody's going to get hurt.

A prank would maybe be contacting the person who is fixing the Prince's car to see if you can talk to the Prince. Not saying this is okay at all.

However, calling up a hospital where the people there are dealing with life and death situations in the early morning when these people are exhausted. That's crossing a line (and putting them in position to trick them into revealing LEGALLY protected info).

Asking to speak to the Princess who is in the hospital, worried about her baby-that's sick.

There's a point in society where pranks end. Even comedians can't just say anything. And there's a point where a prank can be considered fraud and yes harrassment. Especially when it violates other people's rights. And they violated several people's rights. They violated the nurses by taping their voices without their permission. They violated Kate's by inquiring about her (and yes the inquired how's her tummy bug)... Its a gross violation.

Just because its my job to prank doesn't mean you don't have to know where the line is-because there is a line. And your going to prank strangers-than yes your responsible for their unknown actions. I.e like a guy having a heartache with one of those prank calls.

I read some quotes from people I think from India saying things like well doesn't a huge humilation at times lead to suicide? And another person saying one culture's funny ha ha joke, is another person's humilation/shame..

Before people get on reality shows from what I understand for a lot of them they go through tests and all kinds of things to see if they can handle this kind of spotlight. These nursers never signed up for the public humilation those bozos gave them. They thrust someone into the global scene, who never asked for it, and was certainly not prepared to handle it.

And in someways whats worse is precisely it was done to another country too. Oh the Queen may be the Queen of Australia but many Australians seem to want to end that, and it doesn't seem like there's the same relationship...In fact it was all about how we got the "Brits" ha ha. That's not so funny.

[Angelskates]

bek - putting someone in a position where they may reveal confidential information is not forcing them to reveal the information. She could have said no, or at the very least tried to verify who they were. The nurse revealed legally protected information, she's responsible for that. I ask you again, do you think she should be fired? And that you think Kate's rights were violated by the DJs "inquiring about her". Kate's rights to medical privacy were violated when the nurse gave out that information, not when the DJs asked for the information.

I don't want the Queen as my head of state, but that has nothing to do with this. The fact that Kate is famous should mean it was even more difficult to get information on her, yet it was easy. That's not the DJs' fault - that is the hospital and the nurses' fault (and maybe the royal family if they chose not to have passwords etc.)

[bek]

bek - putting someone in a position where they may reveal confidential information is not forcing them to reveal the information. She could have said no, or at the very least tried to verify who they were. The nurse revealed legally protected information, she's responsible for that. I ask you again, do you think she should be fired? And that you think Kate's rights were violated by the DJs "inquiring about her". Kate's rights to medical privacy were violated when the nurse gave out that information, not when the DJs asked for the information.

First of all the DJS pretended to be people who were likely entitled to such information. When on the phone unless there is a password set up-there's no way of verifying that people are who they say they are. Its a matter of faith and good will. There were aspects of the tape that was left out. But these people claimed to be people who were entitled to updates. Its not like they said we are an Australian radio show will you give us the information. They set out to deceive.

You realize likely too then nurser who died may have come under fire for just transfering the freaking call.

[Alex Forrest]

bek - putting someone in a position where they may reveal confidential information is not forcing them to reveal the information. She could have said no, or at the very least tried to verify who they were. The nurse revealed legally protected information, she's responsible for that. I ask you again, do you think she should be fired? And that you think Kate's rights were violated by the DJs "inquiring about her". Kate's rights to medical privacy were violated when the nurse gave out that information, not when the DJs asked for the information.

There are pranks and there is outright outrageous meanness. Maybe the DJs didn't really think it through that they could be hurting anyone and as far as everyone was concerned before her suicide they just decided to sort of laugh it off. But I have a suspicion that behind the scenes the royal family was furious. If the Windsors can't even be in a hospital without well-intentioned nurses giving away medical information, then ANYONE could. I would not be surprised if both nurses were on the chopping block, they really did screw up. In America at least, you can't even get a yes or no whether a patient is even admitted. So yes, in America these nurses would have been fired. That it was the WINDSORS that this prank affected is outrageous. If William and Kate aren't even safe from having health information revealed by an unfortunate prank, then no one is safe. I can almost guarantee you, there were some pretty pretty heated hospital administration meetings afterwards. And to be honest, I would seriously consider dismissing at least the nurse who divulged information. Maybe not the one who killed herself since all she did was transfer a call. But who knows what kind of system was set up for the Windsors wrt contact. You'd have to think there had to have been SOME sort of code or safeguarding. Kate wasn't your typical patient in England. And how awful for the royal family to now have such a black cloud in this moment. First baby of the next generation and now this horrible thing happened. I would be heartbroken if I felt a prank meant for me resulted in a person's suicide. My family would fight like hell if this happened, I am sure the Windsors have an even bigger fighting spirit.

I like a good prank, but I also walk a fine line. Anyone see that prank in Brazil with the girl in the elevator? Here is the clip, and you might find it funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N5OhNplEd4

I'm a little brother, and it was my goal in life to make my sister scream that loud with my pranks. HOWEVER, what I object to is the elderly who were pranked. Imagine if your 80 y/o Mom or Dad were pranked and had a coronary arrest? So I didn't quite find it as funny looking back. In just the same way, I object to this royal prank. No I do not think those DJs are 100% responsible for this nurse's death, she obviously had major medical issues and was walking a fine line. And this one thing tipped her over. Same thing with the scary elevator prank. Had someone had a coronary arrest, you could blame it on the patient having cardiovascular/coronary artery disease, and say it was the victim's fault for not having cleaner coronary arteries.

I like a prank, as long as it's not harming someone. Hopefully this is a live and learn situation.

This is one of my favorite pranks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skHM2hqTxn8

ETA: I think that ALL parties involved in a prank need to give consent for it to become public information. I'm sure both nurses realized they were had and potentially or inevitably were going to lose their jobs. I wish they'd at least have been able to say "No way. I do not consent to this prank being made public. This could cost me my career."

[suep1963]

I, for one, am going to hold my breath until I turn blue. So there!

You may think that people who don't agree with you are trying to "excuse the inexcusable" but what people who disagree with you are trying to tell you is that they don't think what the DJs did was inexcusable. While I don't think it was particularly funny and I don't watch or listen to shows like this, I don't think the DJs did anything wrong and I'm much more appalled that people working in a hospital have so little training that they'd just put someone through without vetting them and/or start blathering on about someone's health without a single question as to who they are.


Because fraud has a legal definition.

So you think it's excusable to attempt to harass a seriously ill person (no matter who it is) and call it funny? Not just call it funny but make a big production about to to make sure that there is an audience to follow your attempt. Cold world you live in.

And you think I should "Oh suep --you are right--I am tilting at windmills in thinking that being a lone voice in the wilderness with make a difference. Let me just shut up and sit in the corner and forget about it". I have said over and over I think that the joke was not funny, and the DJs did the wrong thing. The DJs didn't start the whole event, their bosses did. I've never said that the DJs don't deserve a consequence. I have said just the opposite, in fact. Over and over, and in the post you last quoted. I don't agree with you on what that consequence should be.



I am doing something practical to try and educate kids, parents and teachers about bullying. Of course, I am against it. I find this comment incredibly insulting. I believe bullies should have consequences, and I believe they need educating. I think those being bullied also need to be part of that education. I don't think all kids who bully should be suspended from school, I don't think all adults should be fired. You implying that I am for bullying because I disagree with you about the consequence is insulting.

Do you think the nurse who gave the confidential information should be fired? Or disciplined?

I think the reaction to the DJs - sending them death threats, extreme hate mail etc. is just as much bullying than the phone call they made. Do you think they deserve death threats and extreme hate mail?

Bullying, by the way, is habitual behaviour, so while the DJs may (or may not, I don't know their backgrounds) be bullies, their behaviour wasn't bullying. Not all mean/stupid behaviour is bullying. The nurse who answered the phone wasn't bullied, she was asked some questions, she wasn't pestered or "forced" to answer. She wasn't continually called until she gave the information, she gave it up easily, without any pressure, straight away it seems. One-off prank calls aren't bullying. Prank calling the same person over and over is bullying, and someone who pranks many people habitually is a bully. What the DJs did was stupid, but it wasn't bullying.

You think because the DJs (adults with a mind of their own) may have told by their bosses to put a prank call in to a hospital that they are now not responsibly for that call? Yeah--I'm sure the big head honcho sat down with them and said "make this call or you are fired" It's called common sense--they did not exhibit any.

I'm sure they got nasty calls and threats to the station--they called such attention to themselves that it was bound to come back at them. Karma sucks. Do I approve of such behavior? No, I do not. However, they brought that upon themselves by what they did. They are not victims of anything but their own actions.

I am not saying you agree with bullying because you do not think the DJs should be fired, but how I see your posts, you are excusing what they did by calling them traumatized victims, excusing what they did by saying they were told to do it. I'm not. I say they are reaping what they sowed. If you do crappy things, do not be surprised when the crap is thrown back at you. I do not feel sorry for them. I haven't said they should be fired, I have only said I am not boo-hooing over them if they are. The behavior they exhibited does not seem to be a one time incident, nor did they seem to hesitate to do it, so I don't think compassion is something that is a top priority. Without compassion for another person, it's very easy to see them as a target to be got.

You ask if the nurse should be fired/disciplined for her actions--yes--if she did not follow the rules. They are in place for a reason, and they are very, very clear. And now, I am through with posting here--it's getting tiresome and boring for others, as I have already been told. And goodness knows, I'd hate to be rude on top of everything else.

[aliceanne]

I haven't read the entire thread or all the news articles but I don't get why everyone assumes that this nurse committed suicide or did so because of this prank call. This kind of stuff follows celebrities wherever they go (hotels, hospitals etc.). I'm sure the staff gets schooled on it whenever they have VIP's registered. That this particular staff got taken in isn't something to die over.
I get that hospitals have rules. It could have been an employer, insurance co, or a hostile attorney making the call, but it wasn't in this case.
I'm not sure why they would give the information out to anyone, Kate is an adult, and she wasn't unconscious was she? Let her tell her family how she is doing. Someone got uber excited to be talking to the queen.

[julieann]

I'm not sure why they would give the information out to anyone, Kate is an adult, and she wasn't unconscious was she? Let her tell her family how she is doing. Someone got uber excited to be talking to the queen.

Exactly, I can't believe for a second any nurse (or anyone else) would think the Queen or Prince would call a hospital like that? I;m sure they have better protocol than that...like calling William's mobile phone! They were taken in and it shouldn't have happened. The first nurse should have said "I will give word to the Duchess that you called, thank you and goodbye." The fact that it got to a second nurse who DID give out information on Kate was ridiculous and she should have been disciplined or worse. I doubt someone would be able to call a hospital that Brad Pitt was in pretending to be his wife, who wouldn't see right thought that? I don't know the reason for her suicide but the DJs are not responsible for her not doing her job properly and regretting it.

[Asli]

Exactly, I can't believe for a second any nurse (or anyone else) would think the Queen or Prince would call a hospital like that? I;m sure they have better protocol than that...like calling William's mobile phone! They were taken in and it shouldn't have happened.

I am not an expert on what the Queen or Prince Charles would or would not do, but only the time of the call seems that unreasonable. Using a mobile phone is surely the worst thing imaginable, since these are very easily hackable. Plus they have to be switched off in most hospital rooms because they may interfere with the equipment.

Also don't presume to know how much the nurse had integrated the Western notions of privacy, even though apparently she had immigrated to the UK ten years ago. I've come to France fifteen years ago but still sometimes find myself taken aback at what the French call "respecting the privacy" and what for us would have been "appalling indifference to others' situation and unforgivable rudeness".

Of course the family would call in a situation like that! Not only the family, but friends, colleagues, neighbours, everyone and his uncle - and they would all be put through unless the patient had asked not to be disturbed. I am not claiming that this other extreme is perfect, but try living like this for thirty years and then switching to the place where we should be surprised that a grandmother-in-law should pick up the phone and enquire after her sick granddaughter. What is the Queen supposed to do, tell her butler to make the phone call? I suppose William should also not go to visit her and send his good wishes via an ambassador?

The first nurse should have said "I will give word to the Duchess that you called, thank you and goodbye." The fact that it got to a second nurse who DID give out information on Kate was ridiculous and she should have been disciplined or worse. I doubt someone would be able to call a hospital that Brad Pitt was in pretending to be his wife, who wouldn't see right thought that? I don't know the reason for her suicide but the DJs are not responsible for her not doing her job properly and regretting it.

The job of a nurse is to care for patients, not to conduct the royal family's relations with the press. Brad Pitt would probably have his own employees to filter all contact with the public. Maybe the royal family should do that too.

The first nurse was doing a job that was not her own by replying phones at the standard. She made a split-second decision at 5:30 am when she had been working all night and she made the wrong decision. Maybe you can always react perfectly to totally unusual situations even when you are exhausted, but I am quite sure that I would have made a mistake. So I sympathise with her. As for the second nurse, apparently she didn't give out information that wasn't already in the public domain.

I feel for the DJs, really! They were probably payed to be silly and superficial and they were doing just that. On the other end of the phone they had the nurses on night shift, dealing with sick people and concerned families. Is it surprising that these people weren't on the same wavelength?

[orbitz]

Of course the family would call in a situation like that! Not only the family, but friends, colleagues, neighbours, everyone and his uncle - and they would all be put through unless the patient had asked not to be disturbed. I am not claiming that this other extreme is perfect, but try living like this for thirty years and then switching to the place where we should be surprised that a grandmother-in-law should pick up the phone and enquire after her sick granddaughter. What is the Queen supposed to do, tell her butler to make the phone call? I suppose William should also not go to visit her and send his good wishes via an ambassador?

When there are high profile patients, ie celebrities, royalties, athletes, staying at a place like hospital, there are protocols established by the patient's staff and the hospital staff. I guarantee you that in no situation would the Queen have directly dial the hospital general phone number directly. She or someone on her staff would have had a 24-hr direct personal number to a contact person(s) at the hospital and they then go from there.

[taf2002]

Well, this changes things. I read a statement made by the two who called the hospital. The man DJ said the prank was his idea, not a directive by his boss(es). So now it can't be said that they were told to do it. (In my mind it doesn't really matter whose idea it was, but some people seem to think if their boss tells them to do something, they have to do it.) BTW right or wrong, the two DJ's are on indefinite leave.

I don't feel sorry for them because they took it too far when they didn't hang up when they were transferred to Kate's floor. They say they were only expecting to reach the hospital operator & to be denied further access. But they reached a woman who was apparently not an native English speaker & who didn't recognize that their accents weren't correct. At that point common sense should have kicked in.

[*Jen*]

Well, this changes things. I read a statement made by the two who called the hospital. The man DJ said the prank was his idea, not a directive by his boss(es). So now it can't be said that they were told to do it. (In my mind it doesn't really matter whose idea it was, but some people seem to think if their boss tells them to do something, they have to do it.) BTW right or wrong, the two DJ's are on indefinite leave.

I don't feel sorry for them because they took it too far when they didn't hang up when they were transferred to Kate's floor. They say they were only expecting to reach the hospital operator & to be denied further access. But they reached a woman who was apparently not an native English speaker & who didn't recognize that their accents weren't correct. At that point common sense should have kicked in.

It was their idea, but as it was vetted by people higher up, putting it on air wasn't actually their decision.

And of course they didn't hang up. While calling them journalists would be a stretch (a BIG stretch)...no journalist would hang up seconds before getting the scoop of a lifetime. They called to see what would happen. They expected to be hung up on, but when that didn't happen, they hung around to see what would.

Also, according to the station, the hospital were contacted by the station 5 times to discuss whether or not they had any objection to putting the call on air. The hospital never called them back. It seems the hospital had ample opportunity to end it all before it went public and prevent it going on air, which is new information.

Finally, the DJs have been undergoing counselling and were in tears during much of the interview, said they felt sick about what had happened, apologised and owned up to it being their idea. Their show has been cancelled, they've been suspended and might be fired. Isn't this what people wanted? Yet I somehow doubt the vilification will end now.

[Cachoo]

Nobody wins---everybody loses. What a sad mess.

[skatingfan5]

But key point here...Kate is NOT the Queen's granddaughter. She's the Queen's grandson's wife. I don' t know anyone who would call their grandson's wife their granddaughter. If impersonating anyone, it was one of Kate's grandmothers.

Well, despite taking liberties in describing Kate as her "granddaughter", Greig definitely DID say she was the Queen (from the phone call transcript, when talking to the second nurse):

Greig: OK. Well, I'll just feed my little corgis then (barking in the background). So when is a good time to come and visit her? Because I'm the Queen so I'll need a lift down there. Charles! When can you take me to the hospital, Charles?

Also, according to the station, the hospital were contacted by the station 5 times to discuss whether or not they had any objection to putting the call on air. The hospital never called them back. It seems the hospital had ample opportunity to end it all before it went public and prevent it going on air, which is new information.

That is what the station is saying -- that they called so see if the hospital had any objection -- but perhaps they were instead asking for permission? In that case, if the hospital did not call them back, it could be taken as a "No". But only the hospital and the radio station know what the exact nature of the calls were and how much information (if any) was exchanged during those calls.

Nobody wins---everybody loses. What a sad mess.

Yes, a very sad situation starting from a stupid, thoughtless "prank."

[Asli]

When there are high profile patients, ie celebrities, royalties, athletes, staying at a place like hospital, there are protocols established by the patient's staff and the hospital staff. I guarantee you that in no situation would the Queen have directly dial the hospital general phone number directly. She or someone on her staff would have had a 24-hr direct personal number to a contact person(s) at the hospital and they then go from there.

Surely there was a direct line. I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, but the paragraph you quoted continued from the one just before it, i.e. that a person like this nurse who is an immigrant from an Asian country would "feel" it was normal to pass the call. Maybe not if she had a few minutes to think about it, but if she had to decide in one second at 5:30am, surely her gut feeling would be to connect the person.

OTOH it's pretty clear that neither of the nurses had been aware of any protocol between the hospital and the royal family. Otherwise they would have been disciplined and the hospital would have been pretty happy to have some individuals to blame.

[*Jen*]

OTOH it's pretty clear that neither of the nurses had been aware of any protocol between the hospital and the royal family. Otherwise they would have been disciplined and the hospital would have been pretty happy to have some individuals to blame.

We don't really have a full picture of what happened. The hospital stated after she was found dead that there were no disciplinary procedures being faced...but how do we know that Jacintha didn't think there would be? How do we know she wasn't torn to shreds verbally, behind the scenes?

Her brother is saying she died of shame, but how much did he know about his sister's mental state to begin with? And if she did 'die of shame', doesn't that imply that she, at least, felt she had done something wrong?

There are still so many facts missing, and the media's excessive involvement in this really doesn't help anyone. The story is feeding itself, rehashing the same things over and over without producing anything new. Kind of like this thread

It's a very, very sad situation, for everyone. Hopefully the station revisits its policy on pranks, and everyone thinks before doing them in future.