Prank Royal phone call causes nurse to commit suicide

[klr]

...

But apart from that, the prank itself centred on deceiving a hospital employee into revealing confidential information. No matter the circumstances under which this occurred, it was definitely going to have disciplinary consequences for their victim. They seem not to have cared about this at all.

And at root, while the monarchy is fair game for satire, and in fact, I am up for all that kind of fun. But there are limits of propriety when it comes to matters of illness and members of the monarchy receiving medical treatment. After all - they are human beings too. They are entitled to medical privacy. Because this radio station didn't care about this, and felt that these boundaries are irrelevant when measured against that day's audience figures, a mother of two is dead.

Indeed. If you were to throw a bucket of water (or worse) over someone as they walked down the street, you'd be arrested for assault. Claiming that it was done for a joke would not avail you anything. But prank calls such as this are generally seen as being somehow "OK".

[mistermack]

Indeed. If you were to throw a bucket of water (or worse) over someone as they walked down the street, you'd be arrested for assault. Claiming that it was done for a joke would not avail you anything. But prank calls such as this are generally seen as being somehow "OK".

While they might not be OK, in fact I hate them, they're not assault, like a bucket of water is.
So it doesn't really compare. Assault is illegal. Prank calls aren't.

A prank call is a prank call. It's nasty, not funny, I don't like it, but it's got nothing to do with suicide.
If the woman killed herself, it's her own doing. Yes she was the victim of a prank call, and I would like to see some sort of law against that. But when it comes to her death, she's her own victim.

[Kristie]

"Hello, this is the hospital?"

"How is the Duchess doing? I'm sorry sir, but are you family?"

"Oh, you're from the royal family! Well then I'll patch you right through!"

...

"Oh no what have I done?! I am a failure even as a receptionist! Truly my only way out is to become an hero." (self kill)

Somebody's got to say it; this wasn't really a tragedy.

Agreed. Any idiot working in a hospital knows not to give out personal info over the phone. And, they were clearly fakes. Their accents were exaggerated and comedic. It was a silly prank, not malicious.

[Tero]

I see that Scotland Yard have arrested a man. Says so here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20663293

More big news stories later!

Can't they just delete all of Gary Glitter? Delete all the songs the whole shit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Glitter

just leave the silly chant at football games, RR part II. Use all of the profit to take care of his victims.

[Tero]

Agreed. Any idiot working in a hospital knows not to give out personal info over the phone. And, they were clearly fakes. Their accents were exaggerated and comedic. It was a silly prank, not malicious.

A lack of sense of humor is a serious handicap. We could put these people like in a leper colony to protect them from us.

I had to work with a strange smart person once. No sense of humor or smell. But he did not stink too much.

[Drewish]

Agreed. Any idiot working in a hospital knows not to give out personal info over the phone. And, they were clearly fakes. Their accents were exaggerated and comedic. It was a silly prank, not malicious.

A lack of sense of humor is a serious handicap. We could put these people like in a leper colony to protect them from us.

I had to work with a strange smart person once. No sense of humor or smell. But he did not stink too much.

So only his jokes stunk?

[Tero]

No, he would not even recognize a joke. But he a was a smart chemist.

[Cormac]

Indeed. If you were to throw a bucket of water (or worse) over someone as they walked down the street, you'd be arrested for assault. Claiming that it was done for a joke would not avail you anything. But prank calls such as this are generally seen as being somehow "OK".

While they might not be OK, in fact I hate them, they're not assault, like a bucket of water is.
So it doesn't really compare. Assault is illegal. Prank calls aren't.

A prank call is a prank call. It's nasty, not funny, I don't like it, but it's got nothing to do with suicide.
If the woman killed herself, it's her own doing. Yes she was the victim of a prank call, and I would like to see some sort of law against that. But when it comes to her death, she's her own victim.

In fact, prank calls can be illegal.

This is why they're being investigated in Australia at the moment.

[Animavore]

Here's a transcript of the call.

MEL GREIG: Oh hello there, could I please speak to Kate please, my granddaughter?

NURSE: Oh yes, just hold on ma’am.

GREIG: Thank you.

MICHAEL CHRISTIAN: Are they putting us through?

GREIG: Yes.

CHRISTIAN: If this has worked, it’s the easiest prank call we’ve ever made. Your accent sucked by the way, I just wanted you to know.

GREIG: I’m not used to playing old 80-year-olds.

[phone picks up]

GREIG: Kate my darling, are you there?

NURSE: Good morning, ma’am, this is the nurse speaking. How may I help you?

GREIG: Hello, I’m just after my granddaughter Kate. I wanted to see how her little tummy bug is going.

NURSE: She’s sleeping at the moment. And she had an uneventful night. And sleep is good for her. As we speak, she’s been getting some fluids to rehydrate her. She was quite dehydrated when she came in. But she’s stable at the moment.

GREIG: Okay, ill just feed my little corgies then.

CHRISTIAN: Lovely. But they’re all okay, everything’s alright?

NURSE: Yes, she’s quite stable at the moment. She hasn’t had any retching with me, since I’ve been on duty. And she’s been sleeping on and off.

CHRISTIAN: Wonderful.

NURSE: And I think it’s difficult sleeping in a strange bed as well.

CHRISTIAN: Yes, of course! It’s hardly the palace, is it?

GREIG: Oh, it’s nothing like the palace, is it, Charles?

The call ends abruptly because the DJs hung up thinking they'd be nabbed any sec with their terrible accents. The nurse I've marked in red is the one who killed herself. She took the call and passed it on. I'm finding it difficult to believe she killed herself over that. She may of killed herself over the media splashing her face everywhere but not because of the prank call itself. My own reckoning is there is something we're not told here and will wait for the inquiry.

[Cormac]

The point is that even if she had been suicidal prior to that call, it doesn't mean that these people are absolved of responsibility. (See my points above about eggshell skull).

Any hospital staff member in that circumstance would be subject to disciplinary procedures, which is serious enough and quite distressing. They'd also have been held out to ridicule in front of their colleagues. I've seen similar things happen to nurses in hospitals, and the disciplinary procedures can take several years to complete.

Those DJs are showing a great deal of remorse now, but had she not killed herself, they'd have gone on, and not given a stuff about whether or not that lady's jib was under threat and so on.

And apart from that - we're also talking about a person that was sick in hospital. They thought it appropriate to contact staff treating a patient to elicit some information and make a joke? What if the nurse had revealed something important - like that a miscarriage had occurred, or that the baby had some severe developmental problems? Everyone is entitled to privacy, and in particular, medical privacy. Even the royals.

[Kristie]

Yes, everyone is entitled to privacy. But, in a hospital, it's the responsibility of the staff. Both nurses were insanely stupid for discussing the patient over the phone without being sure of who they were talking to. Like the queen is going to call and check on her! I'm sure the queen has someone there, waiting on information, ready to keep everyone updated personally. It's even like that with most non-famous people.
Both nurses should be fired, regardless of wether or not the call was a prank.

[Azathoth]

The point is that even if she had been suicidal prior to that call, it doesn't mean that these people are absolved of responsibility. (See my points above about eggshell skull).

Any hospital staff member in that circumstance would be subject to disciplinary procedures, which is serious enough and quite distressing. They'd also have been held out to ridicule in front of their colleagues. I've seen similar things happen to nurses in hospitals, and the disciplinary procedures can take several years to complete.

Those DJs are showing a great deal of remorse now, but had she not killed herself, they'd have gone on, and not given a stuff about whether or not that lady's jib was under threat and so on.

And apart from that - we're also talking about a person that was sick in hospital. They thought it appropriate to contact staff treating a patient to elicit some information and make a joke? What if the nurse had revealed something important - like that a miscarriage had occurred, or that the baby had some severe developmental problems? Everyone is entitled to privacy, and in particular, medical privacy. Even the royals.

The correct response to a call saying "hello I'm the queen" is pull the other fucking one it's got bells on. The woman was obviously incompetent. If she cant even follow procedure answering the phone she shouldnt be handing out medicine. An hero is a favour to us all.

[mistermack]

I would say that the people who REALLY are at fault are the palace.
These nurses had obviously been given no guidance whatsoever for dealing with phone calls. How can they just assume that the nurses have the ability to deal with press or possible hoaxes? I would put more of the blame on the palace, that anybody else.

They are the ones who are in the know, who deal with loonies, press and hoaxes on a daily basis.
There should have been some help and guidance offered, or a phone number that calls could be transferred to, with somebody experienced able to answer.

These palace officials get enormous benefits, and are a complete waste of space.

[Kristie]

I worked at as hospital in the in-house operators office. When you called the hospital, you got me and I put you through to where you needed to go. Even I knew about patient privacy laws and how to deal with people that were no supposed to get through or be given info. We even had an option for patients to be 'no information patients'. When someone asked for them, we simply said "I'm sorry, I have no information on a patient by that name.". I have to imagine there's that option in other places. Any famous people, politicians or anyone involved in a police matter automatically went in our computers as a no-info patient. I'm sure those nurses had some training on what info can be given out and to whom.

[mistermack]

Yeh, they probably did.
But the Royal Family just walk straight through all the normal rules. They get special treatment.
These nurses are not going to tell the Queen to fuck off. You haven't seen the briefings that the staff got, about how to bow and curtsey and all that shit. They were probably left with the clear message that what the royals want, they get.
It's simply not a normal situation, and they should have had a system in place to deal with the possibility of any kind of malicious call.
You can't expect nurses to know what's likely to happen. In a normal situation yes, but not when it's perfectly possible that the Queen will call.
If the nurse had had the slightest training in the possibility of a prank or press calls, she wouldn't have fallen for it.