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Royal Watch

  • Thread starter Thread starter Miajahar
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According to news reports, people on the twitter are forming a virtual lynch mob with the aim of destroying the careers of the radio hosts who did nothing more than pull a prank which was no more controversial than anything the Chaser or a thousand other radio hosts/comedians have pulled in the past. Half of these mindless, lynch mob clowns were probably in hysterics when they heard the prank, even though they'd love to imagine that they heard it on the radio and said "tssk, tssk, the women involved will no doubt suffer serious trauma as a result of this". As if anyone could have predicted such a tragic occurrence.
 
Someone said:
According to news reports, people on the twitter are forming a virtual lynch mob with the aim of destroying the careers of the radio hosts who did nothing more than pull a prank which was no more controversial than anything the Chaser or a thousand other radio hosts/comedians have pulled in the past. Half of these mindless, lynch mob clowns were probably in hysterics when they heard the prank, even though they'd love to imagine that they heard it on the radio and said "tssk, tssk, the women involved will no doubt suffer serious trauma as a result of this". As if anyone could have predicted such a tragic occurrence.
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No, but they could have predicted that there were possible ethical issues in ringing a hospital. It was apparently pre-recorded:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment...yed-for-hours-after-death-20121208-2b1y1.html
 
Someone said:
According to news reports, people on the twitter are forming a virtual lynch mob with the aim of destroying the careers of the radio hosts who did nothing more than pull a prank which was no more controversial than anything the Chaser or a thousand other radio hosts/comedians have pulled in the past. Half of these mindless, lynch mob clowns were probably in hysterics when they heard the prank, even though they'd love to imagine that they heard it on the radio and said "tssk, tssk, the women involved will no doubt suffer serious trauma as a result of this". As if anyone could have predicted such a tragic occurrence.
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I agree, it was a fairly trivial prank as far as pranks go. Its not like there ended up being any intensely personal information leaked by this nurse putting the call through. She was in hospital for morning sickness and we heard she had stopped vomiting and was sleeping. Woop woop. I wonder how much pressure was bought upon her by her employers and colleagues and the British press. I seriously doubt they ever expected to get more out of the prank than to have the hospital hang up on them and they'd fill five minutes of air time with a laugh. That the lady immediately decided she was actually speaking to the Queen was, I think, as big a shock to the radio hosts as it was to everyone else. It wasn't exactly an oscar winning performance on their part. Part of her job is to protect the privacy of her patients. She didn't. It may have been the hosts that caused her to trip up but in the end, she made the decision to put the call through. Had she told them to pi$$ off as she should have, then no-one would have ever even heard of the prank apart from the ones who heard it on the radio as it was aired. The queen calling the hospital herself? I mean seriously?

It is a horrible and tragic thing to happen but I think it grossly unjust to dump the whole of the responsibility onto the laps of the radio hosts. They couldn't predict that this woman would react like this, there was no malice intended and it was trivial in the world where practical jokes are part of the culture. I don't want to seem cold or harsh but they didn't make her do anything, they didn't even try particularly hard to convince her they were family and no-one could have predicted it. It appears a gross overreaction to her stuffing up in her job and the radio hosts never forced her hand in anything.
 
In the short term and in the long term, the prank couldn't have caused any harm to Kate or the royal family. Yes, it was a silly prank but certainly not malicious. I understand that the woman who died only transferred the call to the ward, so she wasn't the one that gave out any information? Am I wrong?

Whatever, it's all very, very sad; but surely this is such a trivial thing over which to decide to end one's life. I suspect that there might be other reasons and this was just her tipping point. I know that there was a lot of hysteria over the prank in the UK and that the hospital would have been on her case about it, but in all bureaucracies these days there are mechanisms in place to support employees. If only she'd asked for help. So very, very sad.
 
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How terrible! She wasn't even the second nurse who divulged the "medical info".

Suicide is pretty senseless in itself but there must be more to her story as that reaction is beyond extreme.
 
Jam said:
In the short term and in the long term, the prank couldn't have caused any harm to Kate or the royal family. Yes, it was a silly prank but certainly not malicious. I understand that the woman who died only transferred the call to the ward, so she wasn't the one that gave out any information? Am I wrong?

Whatever, it's all very, very sad; but surely this is such a trivial thing over which to decide to end one's life. I suspect that there might be other reasons and this was just her tipping point. I know that there was a lot of hysteria over the prank in the UK and that the hospital would have been on her case about it, but in all bureaucracies these days there are mechanisms in place to support employees. If only she'd asked for help. So very, very sad.
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Yes, that's my understanding too. She is the one who originally answered the call, addressed the caller as maam and put the call through. I guess you'd have to assume she told Kate's nurse (the one that gave out the information) that the Queen was on the line and the second nurse took her at her word. I assume. I don't know that for a fact.
 
wynter said:
Yes, that's my understanding too. She is the one who originally answered the call, addressed the caller as maam and put the call through. I guess you'd have to assume she told Kate's nurse (the one that gave out the information) that the Queen was on the line and the second nurse took her at her word. I assume. I don't know that for a fact.
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That is the way it appears. What an awful tragedy. No-one could ever have foreseen that a seemingly harmless prank could have such consequences. It does go to show, however, that the way you treat people in every day life does matter; you never know what lurks beneath the façades that people wear.
 
Like Medusa, as soon as I heard about the prank I thought the nurse would be fired.

Having worked as a nurse for 30 years I know there is very much a blame mentality by senior management within most hospitals which would not have helped the nurse feel any better about what transpired.
 
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Jam said:
I suspect that there might be other reasons and this was just her tipping point.
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That would make sense, especially if she was at the wrong end of the typical "pecking order" type of endless bullying, etc, that the medical and education professions are reknown for, particularly at the "rank and file" end of things.

https://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&tb...35d53927626051&bpcl=39650382&biw=1057&bih=594

https://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&tb...35d53927626051&bpcl=39650382&biw=1057&bih=594


[adit]

OTOH, after reading this, perhaps she was a high-achiever who had trouble dealing with personal mistakes or failures.

...

Lord Glenarthur, chairman of the hospital, said: "This is tragic event. Jacintha was a first class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds of patients during her time with us. She will be greatly missed."

The hospital said previously it "take(s) patient confidentiality extremely seriously" and launched a "review of telephone protocols" after the stunt.

Mrs Saldanha had not been suspended or disciplined by the hospital.

"Jacintha has worked at the King Edward VII Hospital for more than four years. She was an excellent nurse and well respected and popular with all over her colleagues," a statement from the hospital said.

...
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regarDS
 
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I've worked in the rank and file of the nursing profession in several different hospitals for years. Of course you do get the bullying incidents from the rank and file but that is not where the majority of the bullying stems from in my experience, it comes from above.
 
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The female dj, that was the tall TAR contestant 1st series, she was awesome hefting sheep and gutsy, likeable.

Does the radio station use Kyle to train them to become dickheads???

Aren't these joke calls illegal?

I know we had the cops check on dickhead kids at our house who made dickhead calls at 10 years old - so embarassing, and I hid the phones for ages after.
 
I don't understand all the hatred being directed at the djs. It was just a silly prank that - due to a sequence of events no-one could have foreseen - went horribly wrong.

The nurse was just standing in on reception. Had the regular receptionist been there then the call quite probably would never have gone any further.

Blaming the djs doesn't change what happened: it doesn't achieve anything at all. just imagine how they will be feeling right now.
 
timmydownawell said:
I don't understand all the hatred being directed at the djs. It was just a silly prank that - due to a sequence of events no-one could have foreseen - went horribly wrong.

The nurse was just standing in on reception. Had the regular receptionist been there then the call quite probably would never have gone any further.

Blaming the djs doesn't change what happened: it doesn't achieve anything at all. just imagine how they will be feeling right now.
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I don't get it either. I've read people comparing them to Vile Kyle and Alan Jones. They are not even in the same universe as those types. There was no malice, vitriol or spite involved in this call like Kyle and Jones and their ilk use. It was a simple practical joke and as tdw said, if it was answered by a different person probably would not have gone any further. I seriously doubt that the call was the sole reason this woman committed suicide, there must have been more to it than that. It is a gross overreaction to these circumstances, there had to be more going on than just the call. The call might have been a contributing factor but I doubt it was the sole reason. They shouldn't be getting all this blame.
 
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