How absolutely tragic!

[Workingman]

She was working in one of the most prestigious private hospitals in the World. Her first language is not English. She is in the area where the wife to the heir to the throne is being treated. It is 5:30 in the morning and the phone rings. What the hell is she to do?

If she doesn't answer it, and it is The Palace, she is gone, archive. Thank you and goodbye. So she answers it, as she should, and when she is not sure about the questions being asked she passes the request on....

It turns out later in the press, to have been a hoax. Much mirth is made of the situation. The famous hospital is made to look amateurish and stupid - a laughing stock. Does anyone really think that the managers did not question her, interrogate her, even though they say she was not to be suspended or disciplined?

I sense a lot of 'covering my back' in this in order to absolve the hospital and make it look perfect - blameless, and because of it an innocent woman is dead.

[Oojamaflip]

I'm probably one of the very few people on this planet who actually feels sorry for the DJ's concerned.
A great many radio stations, including many British ones, do these prank type calls and they do appear to be popular with the listening public. They were probably encouraged by their employers to make these calls to up the popularity of the station(I'm almost certain they didn't just do this off their own bat).
They didn't set out to cause the death of someone-they simply wanted to up the radio station figures and the amount of publicity garnered by the prank would certainly have done this.
I really don't think they could have foreseen that someone would actually take their own life over this....I, myself, cant understand why anyone would choose suicide over something so trivial especially when they had children. However I hasten to add here that I don't judge the victim in any way as she must have been in a really dark place in her own head to do this.
I think it's very sad that someone has lost their life over this, that 2 children are left bereft and that the DJs concerned will have this hanging over them for life.
A couple of things should be considered too....was the woman under pressure re her workload. Any hospital I have ever phoned has a receptionist as the first point of contact-I find it strange that a nurse was manning telephones.
I also find it strange that the hospital had no protocol in place for dealing with enquiries re the Royals-they've had them as patients before and I would have imagined they should have had rigorous checks to ascertain they weren't giving out confidential information to the media, etc.
Lastly, I've read a few sites tonight and am amazed at the level of venom aimed at the 2 DJs by people who profess to feeling for the suicide victim and the pressure she was under...they can't see they are heaping the same pressure onto the DJ's<------the previous sentence probably isnt explained well but I know what I mean!!

Ditto.

[Oojamaflip]

The person who took the call is dead

Well yes, that's why this is a topic of conversation. There are a many questions including why, as a health professional, she acted so unprofessionally? Why didn't she adhere to the protocols set down by the Hospital? Why was she so gullible? Why did she choose to leave her children without a mother? I feel terribly sad for anyone who thinks their only solution to their life's problems is to kill themselves. But I do not think it's right nor fair to vilify and pillory the two radio presenters in what is becoming, public mass hysteria out of all proportion to their 'crime'. They are NOT responsible for the personal choices made by the now dead, nurse. It was her choice alone to leave her children motherless. It's extremely sad, so let's not make it worse by, as Shaz said, creating a similar scenario against the two Aussies. If they have any compassion at all, I'm sure they can't be feeling any more dreadful than they do right now.

[Workingman]

I don't quite understand, Oooj. How did she act unprofessionally? As a duty nurse she answered the phone at 5:30 in the morning and passed the call on. What should she have done, let it ring out? How did she not adhere to the protocols set out by the hospital? Do you know what they are when the wife of the heir to the throne is in residence and receiving treatment?

I can well imagine that in the aftermath of the Ossie prank this poor woman was bullied, ridiculed and pressurised by colleagues and management and that being far from home and not having English as her first language it got to her.

[debih]

But why on earth would she think it was normal to receive a call from anyone (royal or non royal) at 5.30 in the morning asking about how someone was who was simply suffering from sickness.

I know she was pranked and that couldn't have been particularly nice but surely for anyone who has a stable mind wouldn't push them over the edge. As usual, we only know one side of the story from the press (who in actual fact were probably the ones who hounded and hounded to find out who the "guilty party" were in all of this) and surely anyone who was from a very stable mind and background would find this completely mortifying but not enough to push them to take their own lives.

From this I can only read into what has been told but one would assume that she as a very unstable person, hanging on the edge. She wasn't sacked or even put on any sort of reprimand for this (although there is no saying that she thought this could be hanging over her) but, in such a short period of time, to take her own life and leave behind a husband and children one can only assume that she was slightly unstable anyway. One can only assume that no "sane person" would contemplate such an act in such a short period of time.

[shazsha]

I can well imagine that in the aftermath of the Ossie prank this poor woman was bullied, ridiculed and pressurised by colleagues and management and that being far from home and not having English as her first language it got to her.

Perhaps I am basing people's reactions on how I would behave but I honestly cannot see any reason why the woman would have been bullied/ridiculed or pressurised by colleagues nor management.
As far as all reports go the woman simply answered a telephone and directed the call to the correct ward- imo, this is normal behaviour when you hear a phone ring.
I havent seen the tweets by the DJs but I assumed they were boastful of the prank rather than ridicule of the nurse and , tbh, I cant imagine why anyone would bully or ridicule her to such an extent she took her own life.
Like Debi I think the woman must have had underlying issues.
I have to confess my main pity is for the family and children left behind who will, no doubt, be left with guilt issues imagining they should have noticed her mind state/ done more.etc....the everlasting torture that many families of suicide victims face.

[Oojamaflip]

I don't quite understand, Oooj. How did she act unprofessionally?

WM, as a health professional, from support staff to all the clinicians, it's drummed into you to not give out any information at all - even down neither confirming, nor denying, an individual is a patient. Patient confidentially is paramount. To do anything less (or more), looking through that lens, is to act unprofessionally, and more, if you're caught bang to rights, even if it's a 'mistake' or 'human error', then you know there will be consequences. Re the particular hospital in question, the staff should be even more on the ball given their clientèle, and knowing the various underhand MOs of 'the media'.

Just another observation: Kate will have a personal mobile 'phone on which all those who know her best will have a direct line, as will William. Do people really believe Her Majesty would personally call a hospital switchboard regarding visiting?

None of us know what was in the poor woman's heart and mind when she made the decision to deprive her children of their mother. It was her decision alone, nobody made her do what she did, she had choices, but we can surmise that the balance of her mind was disturbed. A person, especially a mother, would never put their children through this agony, if they were thinking sanely and rationally.

It's a very sad situation, but to turn it into an hysterical witch hunt with a desire to throw stones is more fodder for the tabloids.

[Aggers]

This is truly a most sad business but I am not forming any opinion on it until we hear
the result of the poor woman's inquest.

Very often in cases of suicide there turns out to be more than one reason for making
the decision to end one's life.

[Fugitive]

This is truly a most sad business but I am not forming any opinion on it until we hear
the result of the poor woman's inquest.

Very often in cases of suicide there turns out to be more than one reason for making
the decision to end one's life.

Perfectly worded Aggers. I think the same as you.

[miasmum]

That is how I feel too