Nurse filmed on CCTV accidentally switching off life support machine

[Dedworth]

An agency nurse working for the NHS was filmed switching off her patient's life support machine by mistake.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-11595485

[Terpe]

I saw that this morning on the news. Reallu upsetting.
As I heard, he knew all the mistakes that were being made but just he could not communicate with them. It seems they also made no effort to communicate with him.
Very sad.

[Dedworth]

I'll look out for the full item on BBC's Inside Out - you can normally see all the regional episodes on BBC iPlayer

[joebloggs]

yes ,
the nurse looks Filipino

[rani]

another filipino misfortune.. hope she's not a filipino

[joebloggs]

another filipino misfortune.. hope she's not a filipino

no i hope not, but there are many Filipino nurses working in the NHS and in the UK

[Doc Alan]

... there are many Filipino nurses working in the NHS and in the UK

Correct ! What a shame it's rarely headline news saying what a wonderful job the vast majority of Filipino nurses do, indeed nurses of any nationality. They work hard and are dedicated, for relatively little pay .

[dontpushme]

OMG, that's terrible! I'm sorry, but I don't understand how a teacher can be banned from teaching for life if he/she locks kids' homework in a car, but inept nurses are allowed around defenseless patients.

That nurse does look Filipino. And Violetta is a pretty common name back home too. What kind of a crappy nurse doesn't ask for training once she realises she's got to handle equipment she isn't trained for????

[Doc Alan]

OMG, that's terrible! I'm sorry, but I don't understand how a teacher can be banned from teaching for life if he/she locks kids' homework in a car, but inept nurses are allowed around defenseless patients.

Yes, it's terrible ! I don't seek for one minute to defend this particular nurse. I also don't know the full details, only what we have been told by the news media. Perhaps it's considered newsworthy because it is such a tragedy. However, there will be an internal enquiry. In addition, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of the UK, who set the standards for nursing in this country,will be investigating. The vast majority of those people working in caring professions are indeed caring and professional, as are those responsible for setting the standards. If they do make mistakes, they truly suffer the consequences. Very few deliberately seek to harm, or even kill, their patients. No matter what systems are set in place to maintain standards ( continuing professional development / annual appraisals / revalidation), there will always be a minority in any profession who make mistakes because of incompetence, and even fewer who intentionally kill patients and escape detection until it is too late, such as Dr Harold Shipman.

[joebloggs]

not sure about nurses but new doctors to the uk need to pass IELTS, plab 1 and 2 (theory and practical exams) need a cert of good standing then become registered with the GMC. after after all that for the first year you can only work in an approved settings.

i've just read about someone working as a SHO ( junior doctor) and after 3 months the hospital was not happy with their skills, reported this is to the GMc and told the doctor to do foundation year 1 ( basic training) that's what my wife is doing to, so she is fully aware of the NHS procedures and equipment

[RickyR]

I think this is a situation where they need to look higher up the chain. I have a feeling this will end up being a management issue. Because someone allowed her to do this job without her being capable or qualified and without having proper procedures or training in place. Yes she may be inept, but someone allowed her to work in that position, and that person is the one responsible.

[Doc Alan]

I think this is a situation where they need to look higher up the chain.

Of course they do, and they will, as I have explained. The ONLY people to gain from a medical tragedy are the litigation lawyers. Increasingly this country is following the USA in litigation, it costs billions of GBP which could otherwise be used to improve staffing and other conditions in hospitals or nursing homes. Inadequate staffing and overwork with stress often contribute to mistakes. Those who suffer are:-
the patient
the family
the individual who made the mistake (driving some to suicide ; even Dr Harold Shipman who deliberately killed patients eventually committed suicide)
the chain of those responsible for workers who have less experience than themselves (in this case, the NHS Primary Care Trust)
ultimately bodies such as the NMC or GMC who consist of highly experienced nurses, doctors, or other professionals. They set the standards - too low with the risk of incompetence ... too high with the risk of insufficient recruits. They are investigating this case.

[Doc Alan]

not sure about nurses but new doctors to the uk need to pass IELTS....

Overseas trained nurses need to pass IELTS, undertake a 20 day Overseas Nurses Programme, and may need a supervised placement in a nursing home or other "accredited health facility" , before being registered with the NMC.

[Dedworth]

I think it is on BBC South Tonight preview here..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/

[Arthur Little]

I think it is on BBC South Tonight preview here..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/

No mention of Scotland!? ... I do wish the British Broadcasting Corporation would arrange for programmes of National relevance to be transmitted simultaneously!

[Doc Alan]

No mention of Scotland!? ... I do wish the British Broadcasting Corporation would arrange for programmes of National relevance to be transmitted simultaneously!

I'm sure the litigation lawyers also wish for the maximum publicity. For the rest of us, "Horizon" at 9 pm gives the good news : "Miracle of cure? A decade of the human genome"

[grahamw48]

Yes, I've bookmarked that one...fascinating stuff.

As for the tragic case above, I have been 'uneasy' about developments in Care since this field became basically a money-making venture for any Tom Dick or Harry who wanted to involve themselves in it, going back to the early eighties.
I really don't think privatisation or any form of commercial involvement is in the best interest of patients or employees.

No wonder standards of cleanliness have dropped for instance. Any halfwit could have told the powers that be that once you take the pride out of a job (ie. long-term employee with some job security, working for a local hospital as part of a team) and reduce the job to who will do it at the lowest cost, for a commercial organisation only interested in profit...well.

On a larger scale, the drug companies have been fleecing the NHS for decades, including using bribery on a day to day basis.... because that's what all those free samples, equipment and junkets are - BRIBES.
Profits have been enormous, and disproportionate.
It's disgraceful that they have been allowed to get away with it for so long.

Our 'Litigation Society' should also have been nipped in the bud before it got out of hand.
That's what governments are for....to do what is best for the people of this country and not just to turn a blind eye to greedy, parasitic and cunning individuals filling their pockets at the expense of the rest of us.

(My sister taught the B.Nurs degree course at Aberdeen Uni' for 10 years, and is now a Health Visitor, as she was for many years before the lecturing, also married to a Medical Engineer).

My ex-wife also has a British degree in Nursing.

[Dedworth]

I just watched this programme. A grave case with very serious failings by the company employing the agency nurse (A24 Group/ Ambition 24 Nurses) and NHS Wiltshire who give them the business. Both organisations should face some serious litigation and heads should roll at NHS Wiltshire but they won't as the overpaid inept NHS Managers have their snouts firmly stuck in the trough.

[joebloggs]

yes as i guessed, she is Filipino

a Filipino mother-of-four who has been a registered nurse for 10 years, will not face criminal charges.

Police investigated the case and sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service but it decided not to charge her with Grievous Bodily Harm.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...e-charges.html

[dontpushme]

How could she have been a registered nurse for 10 years and not know that turning random things off could result in a life-or-death situation for the patient??? I'm sorry, but as cold as it sounds, my opinion of her just went down a couple of notches.

[Doc Alan]

What a tragic case. The blame culture which now exists in the UK ensures that the only beneficiary will be the family solicitor. There have certainly been strongly worded posts here. I prefer to reserve judgement until the full facts are known. Why the press should choose to describe this nurse's home, name her husband and four children (with ages) eludes me. What we do know is that the CPS could not prove she intended to cause harm or her actions were reckless, so there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for grievous bodily harm. We also know that the collection of agencies has 27,500 personnel on its books, and monitoring by the Care Quality Commission of providers of care is now much tougher. The nurse is suspended while the NMC looks into this case.
The patient's life has been ruined, his family are devastated, and the nurse and her family will also be devastated. I cannot make a judgement on whether managers should also lose their jobs, not knowing all the facts.
It's a forlorn hope that the litigation / blame culture which now exists in the UK will ever revert to how it was in the early years of our (still) wonderful NHS.

[joebloggs]

I have to agree with you doc Alan, but if you don't know how to use the equipment tell someone and dont touch it

Violeta Aylward is a Filipino learning disabilities nurse who had not worked in intensive care and was not trained to manage a ventilated patient

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz13d56VrAf

its not just up to the agency and NHS to vet people whether they are trained to do the job, its also the nurses responsibility..

[sars_notd_virus]

as with any other sensitive work related job,continuos training to hone their skills should be given to all medical practitioners/health workers as they are handling lives,but the problem is where to find the budget for this???the government?own pocket of the trainees??it cant be free

[Dedworth]

as with any other sensitive work related job,continuos training to hone their skills should be given to all medical practitioners/health workers as they are handling lives,but the problem is where to find the budget for this???the government?own pocket of the trainees??it cant be free

As a start how about renegotiating downwards the salaries of the 26000 NHS employees earning over £100000 pa

[Doc Alan]

I have to agree with you doc Alan, but if you don't know how to use the equipment tell someone and dont touch it....

unless you have learning difficulties
It saddens me in the UK's increasingly litigious society that the immediate response when something goes wrong is to name and shame, criticise before all the facts are known, and contact a solicitor (if they haven't already contacted the victims). Such actions can have unintended consequences - does this really encourage doctors, nurses, social workers or other health care workers to take up their profession ?
Melanie Reid ( who broke her neck and back after falling from a horse in April, and writes for "The Times") puts it better than I could : "The blame culture is but a sub-plot in which carers are some of the poorest paid, lowest skilled, most overworked, least well educated people, who must nevertheless carry some of the most profound responsibility".
I only hope that some good comes out of all the publicity given to this tragic case. It's the way adverse events are dealt with nowadays. But as I still don't know the full details, I will reserve judgement.