

If I prank call the Australian Radio Station.....

(118 Posts)
Goldmandra Fri 07-Dec-12 20:11:36

....and tell them they're on a charge of corporate manslaughter?

I wonder how funny they would find that angry

Thumbwitch Sat 08-Dec-12 22:53:53

It's not that she was supposed to play security as such, but she didn't follow basic security principles, which she should have done for any patient.

I hate prank calls - I think they are appalling and don't see the humour in the public humiliation of someone - I feel so sorry for that nurse, because I also believe she would have been disciplined for her actions and possibly lost her job and any hope of getting another one. I feel desperately sad for her family too, that she perhaps couldn't see any other way out of the mess but this would have hounded her for some time to come. sad

hiddenhome Sat 08-Dec-12 22:48:59

All nurses live in fear of the NMC and ending up in front of them one day. In general, the public don't know about this and what goes through a nurse's mind when she/he screws up. It's not only your job you lose, it can be your entire career. If this woman was facing this, in another country, with possibly no wonder she felt so distraught.

Labelling her as 'depressed' or 'having issues' or being 'mentally ill' is just a cop out angry

hiddenhome Sat 08-Dec-12 22:45:21

I was thinking that OhDearNigel. People seem to be assuming that this woman was depressed or mentally ill or something hmm Perhaps she just got a huge shock and couldn't think of how to deal with it any other way sad

I saw her family on the tv news tonight and they looked shattered and broken. My heart went out to them. I have worked with quite a few Indian nurses and they are always very professional and come across as thoroughly decent people.

Goldmandra Sat 08-Dec-12 22:38:19

but I can't help wondering why the nurse felt that she had no other way out than to take her own life??

Anyone who makes or enables prank calls like this knows they are risking causing distress and disruption in the lives of those they catch out. It was inevitable that one day they would do it to someone with terrible consequences. They only had to pick on someone vulnerable. They knew the risks they were taking and it was worth it to them to keep their ratings up.

OhDearNigel Sat 08-Dec-12 22:24:46

and also agree with those that are saying she was probably expecting to be hung out to dry. that's how public bodies work - foist the blame on the workers and absolve yourself of blame

OhDearNigel Sat 08-Dec-12 22:23:19


This is only a theory and I may be barking completely up the wrong tree but the nurse was Indian and I wonder if she felt she had brought irrevocable shame on her family ?

Goldmandra Sat 08-Dec-12 22:14:41

Idiots for sure. But who are the idiots who are listening to this stuff on the radio in the first place?

The same people who read the tabloids then criticise journalists when they hound celebrities/royals.

It is sad to note that AFAIK no broadcasters have made a statement saying they won't indulge in this ridiculous prank calling in the future. It is clearly too popular.

janelikesjam Sat 08-Dec-12 17:26:43


DayShiftDoris Sat 08-Dec-12 17:14:53


Totally agree with yr mum and it was first thing I said...

I think it should provoke a debate about how nurses & midwives are REALLY supported in their roles, especially when an incident occurs.

HouseOfTinsel Sat 08-Dec-12 16:03:41

I still don't understand why it should be a nurse's job to act as a 'security guard' on a hospital switchboard. She should not have been put in that position, surely?

Doin I agree

As I posted elsewhere




Doinmummy Sat 08-Dec-12 14:52:38

I wonder if initially the nurse was reprimanded and only later the hospital decided to ' support' her. I can imagine if it happened where I work, the initial reaction would have been' You did what????You stupid idiot . There will be serious consequences ' etc etc'

Viviennemary Sat 08-Dec-12 13:33:23

I agree that J Beadle's victims were given the choice about publicity but they didn't know at the time about the prank. It isn't quite the same I admit. And I also agree that nobody's knows for sure if the nurse was reprimanded or taken of that job or any other sanctions. The media created the global storm not the DJ's. I am not a royalist and deplore this hysteria surrounding all things royal.

thebody Sat 08-Dec-12 13:14:12

I think it's so sad for everyone. Lets not turn this into a witch hunt now. Enough lives shattered already

Enough now.

Thumbwitch Sat 08-Dec-12 13:11:32

The news I've seen here suggests that many people are as shocked by the outcome and unhappy with the prank call as the British; and actually the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are relatively big news here, the speculation in the glossies about her being pregnant has been going on for months (very boringly) and my MIL, when we heard she was pregnant, said "oh God, we'll be hearing about that endlessly now until she has it, and then about the baby".

Not all Aussies want out from under the Monarchy and the Royal Wedding and the visit by Kate and Prince William have probably increased their popularity here.

Loveweekends10 Sat 08-Dec-12 13:07:09

I do think that Aussies have poked fun of the royals for quite some time. This is all part of a wider cultural anti royalist feeling in Australia.

It sounds as though the nurse had other issues but the bottom line is they took advantage of a sick person just to get a laugh.

But hey they say they haven't broken the law and the presenters are shattered! Oh poor dears. What about that nurses children. How shattered are they?

LadyBeagleBaublesandBells Sat 08-Dec-12 13:05:18

As far as I remember Jeremy Beadle's 'victims' had the choice whether their humiliation was broadcast or not.
Jacintha was not given the choice, her and the other nurse (and I wonder how she is feeling now) weren't.
I'm still a bit doubtful about the hospital's spokesman expressing their sorrow, actually.
I bet they gave her hell and put her in fear of her job.

VicarInaTutuDrankSantasSherry Sat 08-Dec-12 13:00:46

there is an art to prank calling, and a very fine line between a funny prank call and a tasteless, twattish prank call.

this was the latter.

Viviennemary Sat 08-Dec-12 12:56:45

It was a prank phone call. Jeremy Beadle had a show for years along similar lines. The fact that this nurse has died is extremely tragic. But all this corporate manslaughter, blood on their hands is just totally out of order and ridiculous. The media in this country milked it day after day after day. Playing the recording printing the conversation and I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the nurse herself was hassled by media.

differentnameforthis Sat 08-Dec-12 12:13:45

Morloth I didn't mean all Australians thought it was funny. I think I said most, perhaps that was wrong. I am aware that not all would find this funny.

Didn't want to offend anyone.

Morloth Sat 08-Dec-12 08:40:08

I want out from under the Monarchy.

I don't find it funny for ridiculous calls to be made to hospitals in the middle of the night asking for details of a sick woman.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

I'm not condoning the prank call at all.

However I think the hysteria surrounding the reporting of it has been far more damaging and probably much more of a contributory factor.

A prank call is a bit embarrassing but being the top headline in every bulletin and on every front page, with papers calling it a matter of grave national security is utterly humiliating.

And yet the papers are STILL splashing it all over the front pages and whipping it up into a media story. They have absolutely no sense of irony or self-awareness whatsoever. confused

I actually think there should be a ban on reporting DoC's pregnancy, and she should be allowed to continue privately and stress free. Very much like Prince William at university.

For my sake as much as hers wink

cuillereasoupe Sat 08-Dec-12 08:29:03

I wonder whether the poor nurse was doorstepped by the likes of the DM.

HouseOfTinsel Sat 08-Dec-12 07:29:18

It does seem unprofessional of the hospital to expect their nurses to act as switchboard operators, especially when they presumably have a lot of high profile patients and media enquiries coming through. Even during the night, you would have thought that they could have employed someone specially to deal with it. Very unfair to ask the nurses to add to their duties by dealing with outside calls from the general public.

differentnameforthis Sat 08-Dec-12 04:23:23

I should think so too. For those who don't know, comparisons of the company's who have pulled advertising

Coles - Tesco
Telstra - BT
Optus - any major mobile carrier

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