Ebola nurse

I think she deliberately concealed her raised temperature, as did the colleague she was with. She obviously wanted to get back to the UK but put the lives of a great many people at risk in boarding the planes. Her actions were wrong and at odds with a medical professional, she should be struck off.

Thank you harri that's what I have been saying to DH. She acted very unprofessionally!

Surely, in view of the fact that she was returning from an area where she had been exposed to Ebola should have ensured that the screening process at the airport was more rigorous. I cannot believe that a person who had been working with Ebola victims would wilfully risk putting others at risk.of this dreadful disease

She was not the one who recorded the temperature, grandmattie.
That person was responsible and should be accountable, not Pauline Cafferkey.

What's the point of having these systems if those who work them don't do their job properly?

I know she wasn't and I know things were chaotic at the airport, but someone who knew her, knew where she had been working etc., should surely have "outed" her!

She took paracetamol. Which makes her guilty of a terrible thing.

She was ill and exhausted - very harsh to call for her to be struck off.

Having seen death and devastation caused by Ebola during her posting, do you really think she would risk her own life by flying on from Heathrow to Scotland, knowing that the only centre that could save her was The Royal Free in London?

Her name is Pauline Cafferkey not "Ebola nurse" and I am happy to say she has been completely exonerated. She was, as I understand it, running a temperature of 38.2 which dropped to an acceptable level after a couple of paracetamols. Mine has frequently been higher. Not "feeling very ill".
At no time did she attempt to disguise where she had been working so no, I am delighted that she can continue her selfless career and full of admiration for somebody who seeks to return to West Africa despite being mortally I'll twice.

I agree Daphne

But...

She used paracetamol to bring her temperature down!

I think Pauline Cafferkey acted in a way that was at odds with her profession. In her defence she was probably not functioning as well as she could. The things she had been through and struggled with in helping others are not known to us. Think this lady deserves our support although what happened put others at risk.

And if Ebola had begun to rage through Britain as a result of her infection going unnoticed?

There was a special holding centre at Heathrow for medical staff arriving from Sierra Leone.

I can't imagine she would deliberately deny herself the chance of appropriate medical attention - knowing the consequences.

Ebola would not have 'raged' through Britain, Farnorth.
And her infection didn't go unnoticed, did it?
It's transmitted through contact with body fluids and spread in rural Africa because of the lack of sanitation and local burial practices.

The hearing was told of "chaotic" scenes at PHE's Heathrow screening centre, with patients being told to administer their own tests. There were constant miscommunications between doctors, including one who left messages at the wrong hospital. In the end, many present at the hearing were puzzled as to why it was Ms Cafferkey who was under the microscope and not one of several others who appear to have let her down.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37342470

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37364497

I don't think she should ever have been put through this awful trial, of course Ebola wouldn't rage through UK that's such a scare mongering comment I think some people have the idea that Ebola is caught in passing or by breathing on you like a cold

A very brave caring soul who shouldn't be judged so harshly in my mind

It is not up to the 'patient' to administer their own tests, even if that patient is a nurse.

It sounds as if the system was in chaos and this makes me shudder as the consequences could have allowed some carrying Ebola to,get through.......as indeed it did.

I imagine it was this poor woman herself who notified the authorities when her condition deteriorated? She has been fully exonerated and therefore no one ought to be blaming her in any way.

Yes she did Anya.
And then Public Health England, who were in charge of the screening process, put the boot in
to try and transfer the blame for their own sloppiness!

This has been thoroughly investigated and Pauline has been exonerated. I don't know the whole story so I will take the word of those who do that the correct conclusion was reached.

Quite so janea
If they were this inept over something as potentially serious as ebola - which was a known possibility in this case - how useless are they in an other circumstances?

This woman should have never of gone through this, utter ridiculousness. Not even an apology. Empathy in the caring professions has declined.

Being ill does not make one an effective decision maker. Quite the reverse in fact. When we are ill we need someone responsible and professional to take over and make decisions on our behalf. It's also worth remembering that we are not in full possession of the facts, the press are notoriously unreliable with truth and there are an awful lot of much worse cover ups going on in much higher places and it might be a more cost effective use of resources to investigate those rather than one sick individual whose only crime may have been to make less than perfect decisions whilst sick.

I don't think empathy in the caring professions has diminished shiddles.
What has happened here is that the Nursing and Midwifery Council responded to a concern raised by Public Health England by arraigning Pauline Cafferkey. Perhaps if the NMC had carried out a proper investigation they would not have gone on to charge her with misconduct.
In the wake of Harold Shipman, mid-Staffs and other scandals, it is the regulators of the caring professionals who are taking a hard line and lacking empathy and compassion, not the health professionals themselves. Because of public outrage over various things that have happened, the regulators have to be perceived to be 'doing something' even if this means an innocent nurse or doctor is put through hell waiting for months or even years to appear before them.

I don't think she should have been prosecuted. We all take a paracetamol if we feel a bit low & she must have been totally exhausted at the time. There is no way she would have gone up to Scotland knowing the only centre was in London if she suspected she had the disease.
A very brave woman & I hope her condition continues to improve & she has no more scares.