Ebola nurse

I agree with crafticat. If anyone should have been prosecuted it should have been whoever originally suggested ignoring the temperature, as Pauline was already confused at that time. To have her struck off would have deprived us of a dedicated and capable nurse.

The world could do with a few more Pauline Cafferkeys!

I agree mumofmadboys. Pauline has been exonerated of any wrong doing, and we should be admiring her for the dedicated and caring professional she so clearly is, not nit-picking about the decision made by the official panel.

I believe her temperature was taken seven times it was never her responsibility. I think someone is butt covering

It was right that she was investigated, no one should apologise for doing so. It is serious what could have happened and will be so for the rest of her life, excellent that after what is a warning she can carry on nursing.

Carolpaint she was exonerated of all charges- she did not receive a warning.

Well said, Craftycat! I can't believe some of the bitchy comments made on this forum regarding Pauline Cafferkey, a brave, committed health worker. I would not have been brave enough to volunteer to do what she did in working with Ebola victims. I'm sure she saved lived at great risk to her own, as well as seeing terrible things. GB should be giving her a medal. How about Dame Pauline?

I agree, it was blame shifting!
Sadly in my opinion the NMC should have looked at this case and decided that the nurse in question was not at fault,and common sense applied.

There is NO empathy within the nursing profession any more.its become a 'who can we blame'

Much of the dislke of Pauline Cafferkey in Scotland (I have a relative up in East Kilbride Scotland) is that she visited Primary schools without the parents permission.

She should not have exposed herself to little children until she was sure that she was clear of Ebola. She was NOT clear of it.

Having worked with Ebola, she knew how contagious it was, but she still (and still does) see herself as blameless.

I expect now she is cleared by the medical council she will become Dame Pauline Cafferkey.

It reminds me of poor Terrence Higgins. He didn't care about his illness either.

Goodness me, I can't believe the attitude of some people towards this poor woman. As janeaisworth posted yesterday -

It's transmitted through contact with body fluids and spread in rural Africa because of the lack of sanitation and local burial practices.

And I really don't understand the comparison with Terence Higgins...

I am at a loss on this one - she is a dedicated nurse and much to be admired for taking the risk of going to care for people with ebola.

But it is precisely the knowledge that she would have derived from that selfless act that would make her fully aware of the dangers of not going through the proper processes on her return to the UK. We can only conclude that there was some failure in the system - faced with a woman who had been in direct nursing contact with victims I cannot help thinking that the rules for immigration screening should have insisted on such a person being quarantined - infected until proven otherwise. Just taking temps seems a bit weedy to me.

She should not have exposed herself to little children until she was sure that she was clear of Ebola

I presume she did not have physical contact with the children so the fears were groundless. She had an unusual late complication as a result of the virus and it had been assumed that she was free of the virus.

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/ebola-virus/Pages/how-it-spreads.aspx

Presumably she was invited in to the schools, she didn't force her way in; the parents should have been informed beforehand by the head teacher.

Ignorance breeds fear, however, it was reported that no parent made a complaint so presumably it is just the gossipmongers who dislike her.

You use the words "presume" a lot Jalima, but the children did hug her. She is not a bad person but the parents really did not have a choice at the time. She had Meningitis when she met them, which is highly contagious.

You also use the word "should" and "gossipmongers, but some of the parents felt they would would be singled out if they objected.

They would have been.

I said presume because I do not have the full facts.

Presumably you do pollengran so peraps I presumed wrong.

There's no way of knowing whether or not she deliberately hid her high temperature. My feeling is that after an exhausting and distressing stint treating patients with Ebola and seeing many of them die, and then a 22 hour flight home, there is every chance that she felt disorientated. I really don't think it is likely that a person who put herself at significant risk to go half way across the world to help other people would then deliberately put the population of this country in danger.

I think the health checks on medical and other staff returning from working in infected areas of the world should have been far more rigorous - conducted over a period of hours during which temperature and other health checks were carried out by more than more practitioner.

I'm saddened to hear that she's been re-admitted to hospital - her illness seems to lie low then reappear.

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Pollengran I live not far from East Kilbride and no one I kno wdislikes her or has complained about her visiting a school she was invited to visit.Ms Cafferky deserves nothing but admiration for her work and the fact that the health authority in ENGLAND let her down by not checking her properly is not her fault.In fact if I were she I'd sue them...she could easily have died becasue of their neglect

Pollygran you don't catch Ebola from hugging someone my understanding is that it is bodily fluids and you don't pass them on in a hug so please stop passing rumours around some people will believe you