Reminds me of the HSE over here. Enda and co really need to pull the finger out. We can’t keep paying bondholders and let our hospitals suffer

I’m sure the british media weren’t very sensitive in their dealings with her last week either.

I would be surprised of she didn’t have some bad time at the hospital following the prank, maybe was about to be fired ? Of her husband is blaming the hospital he probably has good reasons for it.

What has that got to do with this story

What have bondholders got to do with a prank phone call and the tragedy that followed??? I’m not fan of Enda but let’s keep it in perspective.

If there hadn’t been the prank call there wouldn’t have been the telling off. It was the catalyst.

Maybe she had other issues that we don’t know about. Whatever they were, those DJs and their ‘prank’ pushed an already troubled woman to commit suicide. All the crocodile tears and Oscar worthy attempts at an apology won’t bring that woman back, and that’s what they have to live with. Personally, I have no sympathy for those two.

Trisha, if this was an already troubled woman as you say then I think that it is fair to say that if it wasn’t this phone call then something else could have triggered her suicide. People generally don’t just decide some morning to kill themselves out of the blue. In general there is a build up to their decision with something eventually pushing them past the point of no return. The call might have got her a dressing down by management but it would hardly be a trigger for someone who didn’t have problems already to kill themselves. A lot of lives have been ruined by what happened but I don’t think for one moment that if those 2 DJ’s knew what was going to happen as a result of their actions they would have made that call.

Brian, those DJs knew full well what results the type of ‘pranks’ their employers pulled would cause. Don’t forget, this is a station that pulled a lie detector stunt with a 14 year old girl, and all but forced her to admit she’d been raped at the age of 12; something she hadn’t even told her mother. This interview with supposedly sorry DJs and the hollow apologies from the radio station lack any sincerity and smack of a PR damage limitation exercise. Any sympathy I have is for the woman and the family she left behind; not two people who think that tears and a sorry will make it all better.

Trisha how can you say ” those DJs knew full well what results the type of ‘pranks’ their employers pulled would cause.” Are you trying to say that those DJ’s knew that the phone call would result in a suicide but went ahead with it anyway? That’s a pretty strong statement to make.

As for the lie detector test well firstly any mother who straps her daughter to a lie detector and interrogates her live on air about her sex life doesn’t have a very good standing in my books. Secondly you say the station ” all but forced her to admit she’d been raped at the age of 12; something she hadn’t even told her mother.” These are the actual words that the girl said “The girl responded: “I’ve already told you the story of this and don’t look at me and smile because it’s not funny. Oh, okay. I got raped when I was 12 years old.” Listen from 2.22 on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLZzgbLCdFE The mother knew before hand and yet still brought her child on air, the presenter knew nothing about it, so who was at fault here? The mother or the presenter’s?

It’s easy to blame the presenters’s for an admittedly tasteless prank, how ever I don’t think it’s that simple. Why was a nurse on reception? Why was there no proper screening of the call for such a high profile patient? How often does the Queen ring up anyone never mind her own hospital? What support did the hospital give the nurses involved seeing as her husband is blaming the hospital as well as the DJ’s. How accurate is the reporting of the events before and after and how much is sensationalized? How much of this story is being milked to sell newspapers and deflect from media intrusion into the private lives of the Royal family.

I still assert the fact that unless these 2 DJ’s are absolute psychopaths there is no way that had they known the turn of events would they have made that call. You have posted comments on this website that can be accessed in Australia. How would you feel if one of those DJ’s, who are severely distressed, read your comments condemning them and those comments caused them to do harm themselves? Did you even think about what you wrote or is it only people in the public eye who should be condemned?

To everyone who blames the DJs: What if one of those DJs read one of your comments on the Journal and decided to kill themselves because of what you said, is it your fault they are dead?

Does nobody find it ironic that so many people are happy to give the DJs a hard time to show them how wrong they were to ‘bully’ the nurse? Eitherway, TV3s cock up of their headlines was funnier than the prank call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpYUig9lglM

While I don’t disagree with you, iI feel this is a case of “the egg shell skull” rule. When you taunt someone, it’s not unreasonable to think that perhaps she or he could have underlying issues, you have to take them as they are. And like it or not, they( along with whoever else, the hospital, the palace, were responsible for her death.

They were reckless as to whether or not this could do harm, because it was funny.

SHE killed herself so SHE is ultimately responsible for her death.

Aontaím go h-íomlán Rachel!

Ah for jasus sake, if even one person thinks she went home and killed herself because she answered a phone and passed it to a colleague who divulged details then you are a fuc**ng moron. Simple.

Diplomatically put. You should work for the UN.

Niall
You just dont understand how serious it is for a nurse to divulge confidential patients information – and it was a royal patient at that.
On top of the confidentiality issue there is the hospitals wrath at this publicity ruining their reputation and the risk they could lose all high profile clients.
These DJ’s had no care what would happen to anybody who answered their idiotic call –
Their excuse that they expected to be cut off at any moment is no excuse at all

What are you basing this on?

@Sean basing that anyone that is mentally stable wouldn’t take there own life because of a phone prank There is a high chance there was other factors that contributed as well that may have been going on in her life

That’s a fairly large assumption. I’ve seen nothing in the papers to indicate she ever displayed anything resembling suicidal tendencies before this call.

Being more fragile than others is not an indication of mental illness.

Sean people don’t just kill themselves. It’s not a big assumption and I’ve definitely seen something that indicated that she had suicidal tendencies; she killed herself.

So your evidence that she had suicidal tendencies before the event is her suicide after the event. Do you not see a flaw in that? Are you honestly of the belief that one event cannot be enough to drive someone to suicide?

In many suicide cases there is absolutely no indication that the person is going to commit suicide. Many families have said that they had no clue, that there were no hints. So the fact that there were no reports of her having previous suicidal tendencies is completely irrelevant.

I don’t believe you just commit suicide. Suicide isn’t something you do on a whim. You need to be in the right (wrong) frame of mind to do it. As Amy pointed out, people suffering from depression or other mental health illnesses do not always display symptoms that are readily apparent to those around them.

Of course it was their fault. No one forced them to make the call. They could have refused to make the calls. They must take responsibility for their own actions.

I disagree. The story was pretty rampant before her death.

The story was already all over the media- which probably didn’t help the woman in question’s mental state (seeing it on every front page etc).
The DJs can’t have known this would happen- HOWEVER, the best case scenario to stem from this prank was that someone would most likely lose their job as a result. That should have been enough for them to not go through with it.
I do have some sympathy for them, but it’s fairly limited. The press should back off now, enough damage has been done.

@ Philip,
yeah its totally their fault alright they totally should take the blame for this woman choosing to take her own life, do them for manslaughter, c’mon people lets ruin their lives, cause when they went to work that morning they knew exactly what they were doing eh, because this is what people do when they answer the phone, yeah totally their fault,…….. and the story goes on and on and on and on and on …………………..

In my personal opinion I don’t think the prank should have been aired but it was up to the station bosses to make that call. I’m a bit disturbed how vilified the presenters are being. I’m sure they would have never for a second have aired the call if they thought this would be the outcome! Do people want them to commit suicide too??

I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous. The presenters reasonably expected they would be hung up on.
Can the media please shift their interest away from these two and focus on the fact why a member of the public can call the royal’s hospital of choice main switchboard and with a VERY obvious fake British accent gets put through, no questions asked?
You would think a hospital with such high profile patients would invest in media training for their staff and also that there would be a “special phone number” or an an agreed “code” when a member of the royal family calls.

In fact, whoever runs the hospital should be the one to go, not the station manager of a radio station doing what HUNDREDS upon HUNDREDS of radio stations around the world do every single day.

The station had the pre-recorded segment and decided to play it, including all the confidential stuff. This wasn’t live on air.

Yes, the staff should be trained better, I agree. But the DJs and other staff at the radio station need to take their portion of the responsibility too- they knew this would humiliate those involved and possible lose them their jobs and they CHOSE to air it.

She was hardly “quite ill”. It was known at the time she was in hospital for bad morning sickness.

It was in poor taste, but the idea that they are directly responsible for her death is unfair. This could have happened to anyone with any prank. TV programmes of the genre do far worse to people, and I’ve never heard of them killing themselves over it.

Don’t see why you want the lawyers of the station sacked. They aren’t asked for their personal opinion’s on things like that; they’re asked for their professional opinions. And they were of the opinion that airing the call was legally okay. Which (so far) it seems it was.

the DJs and the radio station are to blame. especially as they didn’t get permission to record and broadcast from the victim.

Let’s be honest, they didn’t care what effects it would have past their ratings.

Lets be honest, a drunk driver who kills someone on the way home from the pub never imagines what is going to happen.

the DJs and radio station didn’t care what impact it caused and broadcasting without getting permission shows the contempt they had for the victim’s of their pranks.

I agree Beth. This way of getting a cheap laugh at someone else’s expense is pathetic and puerile, and in this case tragic. They sure as hell didn’t think the nurses they duped were going to get thanked for falling for it. That kind of international ridicule could realistically have driven a sensitive person to drastic measures. And it wasn’t even faintly funny. That guy called it his ‘career highlight’ before it turned sour. Sad bloke, if tricking someone to answer stupid questions is his career highlight.

NOt convinced that the security officers answer the phones.
Not being an expert but… i suspect there was at most 2-4 officers within close proximity to the duchess at the most. I understand that call first went to the main switchboard/reception at the hospital… I dont think that a royal security officer will be manning the “public” phones there… the call was placed through to a phone on the ward.. which i ssume had any noumber of patients on it. even thge dutchess does not get a whole ward to herselft. I expect she had a private room on the ward. once again security manning a ward phone … probably not thats what the nurse/receptionist do at all hospitals.

At most the security person might have answered the phone in the dutchesses own room.

They get permission from the victim I believe

they didn’t get permission

The Strawberry Alarm clock gets consent before broadcasting such calls. They are pre-recorded. If consent is not given, the recording must be destroyed. The exception is where it is a call to a public individual, and it serves the public interest.

im not saying the dj’s were right or wrong, i am the lady has died.. but the starwberry alarm clock may do these calls!! but ive never heard them ring a hospital impersonating a member of the royal family and getting private info out of staff.. like ive said before , it is such a tradgey from a silly call!

* i am sorry the lady has died.

What are you basing that on?

He based it on the same thing you’ve based all your shite talk on.

Bit of a laugh compromising someone’s career. Did they not stop when they realised confidential medical information was being released by an unsuspecting nurse in her place of work.

They obviously knew they were on the edge, given they ran it past the legal department, before gloating about it for days as being the “greatest royal prank ever”.

The call was never funny. I listened to it on Wednesday morning – I turned it off after 30 seconds hearing the nervousness of the second nurse going into detail about a patient. It was obvious they could threaten the careers of those involved, but all they cared about was ratings.

If you’d like to dispute a point I’ve made then go ahead Damien.

@Sean beag.
Well you do keep implying she had no other underlying problems. You have absolutely no proof to back this up. It would seem pretty likely that she had some kind if mental issues.
I am in no way condoning the actions of the DJs. They are morons who should lose their careers for this.
But you do talk some shite Sean.

I’ve said there is nothing to suggest she had any mental issues or suicidal tendencies beforehand. i think it’s pretty wrong to say she must have when you don’t know her. And even if she did have some hidden issues that nobody knew anything about it’s really irrelevent. They had to have known that broadcasting this call would cause serious problems for those involved and they went ahead anyway. It backfired big time and in the most tragic way

“Nothing to suggest”
The poor woman killed herself. I think that pretty strongly suggests.

@ manonthestreet,
Once again just because she killed her self does not mean that she had other issues at all. She was married with two kids but away from home, she was probably a bit lonely, she MAY have thought her job was under threat (but the hospital say she faced no dicaplinary action she WAS being slaughtered in the worlds press. Frankly i think this could very well have been more than she could take.

I agree Robert. But its just as plausible that she may have had underlying issues. I believe that to be very possible. But we will never know.

I agree Sean. They’re claiming it was all just a joke but there’s no way they didn’t know that at the very least they were messing with people’s jobs. I’ve been reading all weekend that the DJ’s are traumatised, on the verge of self harm etc. All I saw this morning during their interview was them blaming others and a few crocodile tears.

Doing the press conference shows that these people do not understand what they have done. It’s all about them justifying what they done. We all know that pranks always lead to a and ending.

Agreed Sean. Also these kind of so called prank calls always have victim and are designed to embarrass someone. People can say what they want about the hospital administration giving her a hard time about her actions. If I make a mistake in work I get a verbal warning, then a written warning this is normal practice. People can try to allocate blame but the butt stops with the radio station and their employees implicated in this

Clueless moron.

Well said Niall you must have put ours of thought into that post.

* hours

Do you know for a fact that she did this because of the call? If not, kindly refrain from posting more nonsense.

Agreed lady friend. All your woman did was answer the phone, it wasn’t her you hear on the prank. But idiot central here doesn’t know the facts.

maybe the DJs are getting a little of their own medicine being forced into the limelight and exposed for what they are.

Do you want them to suffer the same consequences and kill themselves.

they didn’t consider victims feelings at any stage during the prank or in interviews later so a taste of their own medicine is their own doing.
as they said on interview today they are getting all the help and support they need unlike their victim.

This was a normal phone prank. Prince Charles was even joking about it, but the nurse was clearly not strong enough or didn’t get support from the hospital.

“To get chopped” or “to get the chop” I hope you mean the latter.

I’m still amazed at the claim this call was apparently vetted by so many people before broadcast. Either that’s a lie or the people who vetted it are incompetent at best.

That’s like saying bullying is ok as most children don’t self harm because of it.

The vetting will have been for legalities, not the ethics behind the prank call.

I’d be fairly sure that even in Australia it’s illegal to obtain medical records by deception.

It’s illegal in any language to obtain medical information that is not your own, without the owners consent.

Define ‘normal’ ???

This was obviously an assassination on the nurse. An example had to be made.

Sandra Sullivan, I’m just trying to comprehend how your thought processes work, what happened to you growing up, what your genetics are like. Im just sitting here trying to figure out how you could come to such an idiotic conclusion. I think it’s just one of those things I’ll have to accept I’ll never understand, and move on.

Lets hope Galway Hospital are giving their staff support after the Media muddle they have experienced

It was because the call came thru at night and because they don’t expect calls at that hour the nurses answer them instead if paying someone to sit there waiting for the phone to ring, it’s common practice

What muppet prank calls a hospital? END OF

You didn’t hear the call, but you thought it was very funny?

Wow…

I feel sorry for the dead nurse who took her own life because she got lambasted for giving over private information about a patient because of 2 idiots ratings hunting. The fact that “they were just doing what they normally do”, highlights the acceptance of the dumbed down media everywhere. If you look at the nurse’s name is highly likely that she’s not a native Englishwoman. This goes a long way to explain how she wouldn’t have detected the “silly accents”. Can you imagine the pressure on the hospital to take disciplinary action regarding such a high profile patient? The woman would have been sacked. How you can judge on the disproportionality of her response is just as insensitive as the gimps who prank called a hospital. I thought certain teenagers were the only portion of society stupid enough to do this due to their still developing brains.

Have you seen the interview with the DJ’s Siobhan? They do a pretty good job of blaming everyone else for what happened. Saying they just did what they do. That others check to see if its moral/legal. What a cop out!
The more I think about it the more I feel it was in such bad taste them giving an interview. Imagine the nurses family watching that? At them with their token crocodile tears saying they could never have foreseen what happened. At the very least they were jepordising someone’s job.
Oh and Siobhan, who are you to say what drives someone to suicide? To say what counts as enough of a justification to do such a thing. I honestly wonder sometimes!

You’d be best staying out of adult conversations, especially on topics you seem to know nothing about.

Eehm and what do you have Phd in suicidal actions?

No. Did you finish school?

Sean…. Again get over yourself.

Ironic Sean considering you don’t know the actual fact, all she did was answer the phone. It isn’t her voice you hear in the prank. You fool of a man.

@Niall Who is maintaining that the woman that took her life is the one that divulged the details?? She put the call through, I don’t see anyone saying otherwise. How do you know that the woman didnt feel immense guilt, that by putting the call through to the nurse that actually divulged the details thought the call had been screened and verified? That perhaps she felt responsible not only for her actions but for the other nurses? That she felt shame? I’m speculating of course but there’s more to it then “shur she only put the call through” argument youre pedaling.

You’re a pitiful, ignorant human. Circumstances regarding this woman’s death are all very hazy. But belittling the woman by how her death occurred is disgusting. Suicide does not mean that a person is weak or selfish. You don’t know how this woman suffered. You don’t know how others suffer with similar issues. Mental illness is so terribly stigmatised in this country an in the UK. People, more often than not, suffer in silence and don’t seek the treatment they need. People like YOU are the cause of why most mental illnesses are seen as such a taboo in society. Watch your words and stop being a horrible, nasty person.

@beth I totally agree,

She could have felt like a burden, an embarrasement, an idiot, pathetic, useless the list goes on and on. There is no saying in how responsible she felt for transfering the call and bringing her workplace in to disripute. She may have felt like she let down her work place, her work mates, the patients, the royal family and her family, maybe even the whole of England

Thats so much to bare.

It was not a trival matter to her, even though it may seem so to others, she no light at the end of the tunnel. RIP Jacintha

@laura

Well said!

#Empathy

I did know that Niall. Don’t really see how it changes anything.

Are you for real? these two clowns, put these two nurses careers at risk at the very least..and probably landed her in a whole world of sh1t with her seniors. They knew well what they were at but just cared about ratings..surprising really because, in oz they are very strict on that kind of thing..how tackless they were.

Hopefully!

Are you not judging the victim?

you are a foolish person for typing that garbage.

Strange comment there krystian. First off committing a suicide is insinuating that’s it’s a criminal act and as from 1961 in England and 1993 in Ireland it ceases to be so. You have no idea why she did this, what might have happened in the aftermath with the hospital management, I’ve heard all sorts including the threat of being done for treason, anyway saying her life must of been a mess just shows the ignorance of your comments. Mental health has a
massive stigma attached to it unfortunatly, people feel sick they go to the doctor to address physical health but our mental health is just as important! Talk to someone , it can get better. Samaritans provide 24 emotional support 1850 60 90 90

What? This women had other issues obviously and perhaps this prank by the two halfwit presenters pushed her over the edge. It want any national gov secrets but by Jesus the media frenzy that followed it may as well have been. She obviously felt she’d never find piece of mind. Bottom line a woman is dead as a result of a nasty, borderline bullying prank.

@david.. That’s a bit harsh regarding the nurse!