There you are, you are a nurse and you rise to become Director
of Nursing and Quality Assurance, then you get made Director of Clinical
Standards as well as becoming Chief Nurse and Infection Prevention and Control
Director.
These aren’t everyday nothing jobs: in a hospital they
matter. They are well rewarded with a salary and benefits that matches the
responsibility.
In fact the nurse was Janice Harry and she did those jobs for
Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and its predecessor between 1998 and
2006. She was a bully to her fellow staff and presided over a culture of
neglect and cruelty towards her patients.
This week she was convicted by the Nursing and Midwifery
Council of misconduct – she failed to ensure there were enough staff on wards,
put patients lives at risk, failed to ensure patients were fed or given water.
People died – between 600 and 1200 of them according to
statistical analysis and government reports and while she was not responsible
for all of those deaths, she was certainly responsible for a number of them.
The penalty? - ‘A caution’ for five years.
That means she can continue to practice as a nurse, be an NHS
manager or do similar work in the private sector or care industry.
It is unbelievable that she will enjoy comparable earnings,
have a big fat NHS pension and be able to go on as if she had done nothing
wrong.
My heart goes out to the bereaved relatives and Janice Harry’s
unfortunate work colleagues as once again someone like her walks away
unpunished.
Neil Harris
(a don’t stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutthenhs.blogspot.com
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