By Keith SellickWhistleblowing nurse Margaret Haywood has received more than 41,600 signatures backing her on an online petition hosted by The Royal College of Nursing, and the number is still growing.
Haywood was struck off the nursing register by Nursing and Midwifery Council after helping Panorama expose ill-treatmment of older people
Here is a recent Community Care article on the lack of legal protection for whistleblowers
I deal with the safeguarding of vulnerable adults on a daily basis. I visit care homes and care agencies on a regular basis and promote and encourage care staff to activate the whisleblowing policy within their organisation if they encounter any form of neglect or abuse.
I encourage this so that care standards for vulnerable adults can be improved and abusers can be sifted out of the system.
The 'stricking off' of Margaret Haywood was unbelievable and has sent out the wrong message to care staff who want to report abuse.
Yes I agree that MH should have sought consent from the people she secretly filmed, but had she received consent, would the true picture have emerged? I believe that they may not have consented to the filming for fear of further neglect and abuse.
I am sorry for Margaret and admire her bravery, but I believe that in the long run, her actions will improve care standards for older people.
Panorama did obtain the consent of people filmed or their families before the programme was shown. Several families involved all supported Nurse Haywood at the tribunal that struck her off. The comments on the petition show that neglect and abuse is happening very often. There are plenty of comments on the petition from people who have experience of it. This is a major human rights issue.