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Ebola nurse

(45 Posts)
Jayh Thu 15-Sept-16 09:13:05

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.

janeainsworth Thu 15-Sept-16 08:27:36

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

Anya Thu 15-Sept-16 06:46:44

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.

BlueBelle Thu 15-Sept-16 06:40:12

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

Jalima Wed 14-Sept-16 21:57:26

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

janeainsworth Wed 14-Sept-16 20:53:00

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.

Riverwalk Wed 14-Sept-16 20:38:32

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.

FarNorth Wed 14-Sept-16 20:33:33

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

Christinefrance Wed 14-Sept-16 20:27:38

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.

jinglbellsfrocks Wed 14-Sept-16 20:04:38

But...

She used paracetamol to bring her temperature down!

mumofmadboys Wed 14-Sept-16 19:55:46

I agree Daphne

DaphneBroon Wed 14-Sept-16 19:50:24

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.

Riverwalk Wed 14-Sept-16 19:18:18

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?

jinglbellsfrocks Wed 14-Sept-16 19:16:07

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

grandMattie Wed 14-Sept-16 19:15:16

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!

janeainsworth Wed 14-Sept-16 19:14:03

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?

oldgoat Wed 14-Sept-16 19:09:59

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

grandMattie Wed 14-Sept-16 19:06:19

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

harrigran Wed 14-Sept-16 19:05:16

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.

grandMattie Wed 14-Sept-16 18:56:56

DH and I are at loggerheads. I know that the nurse returning from Sierra Leone was too tired/zonked/ill to have her temperature checked properly. But - I think she was at terrible risk of spreading Ebola in this country; DH said that she was a hero and doesn't deserve to be investigated.

But... if you have been working with Ebola patients, have been in contact with them and come home feeling very ill, surely as a professional you should get yourself tested?

What do gransnetters think?