A nurse agrees to film conditions in a hospital that had been the subject of numberous complaints to Panorama in order to expose what was going on there. She didn't compormise her duty of care, if anything by showing what was actually going on at the hospital you can argue that she had a strong obligation to the welfare of the patients.
On the other hand, one of the primary things that was hammered into me when I was a student nurse was the importance of patient confidentiality and while there are situations where you are not only allowed but obligated to breach it this isnt one of them.
Perhaps the question that the regulators should be asking is why did a nurse with 20 years experience agree to the secret filming. Was the system so badly broken that she took the opportunity to show her concerns and has if been improved since?
A nurse who secretly filmed for the BBC to reveal the neglect of elderly patients at a hospital has been struck off for misconduct.
Margaret Haywood, 58, filmed at the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton for a BBC Panorama programme in July 2005.
She was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council on Thursday after being a nurse for more than 20 years.
The panel said she "followed the behest of the filmmakers... rather than her obligations as a nurse".
Ms Haywood, of Liverpool, said: "I am absolutely devastated and upset by it all. I think I have been treated very harshly.
"It is a serious issue and I knew it was a risk I was taking but I thought the filming was justified and it was in the public interest.
"I always made it clear to the BBC that patients would come first at all times."
She said she had voiced her concerns through her immediate line manager "but nothing was really taken on board" and the whole process now needed to be reviewed.
She was found guilty of misconduct on Wednesday following a fitness to practise hearing.
The chair of the panel, Linda Read, said Ms Haywood had prioritised the filming and did not fulfil her obligations as a nurse.
"In the view of the panel, this was a major breach of the code of conduct.
"A patient should be able to trust a nurse with his/her physical condition and psychological wellbeing without that confidential information being disclosed to others.
"Although the conditions on the ward were dreadful, it was not necessary to breach confidentiality to seek to improve them by the method chosen.
'Patients' dignity compromised'
She said the misconduct was "fundamentally incompatible with being a nurse".
"The registrant embarked upon filming many vulnerable, elderly patients in the last stages of their lives, knowing that it was unlikely that they would be able to give any meaningful consent to that process, in circumstances where their dignity was most compromised.
"The registrant could have attempted to address shortcomings by other means. But this was never a course of action which she fully considered."
Ms Haywood had admitted breaching patient confidentiality but denied her fitness to practise had been impaired.
Elizabeth Bloor, the BBC programme's producer, told the hearing there had been "an over-arching public interest" to produce the Undercover Nurse documentary because Panorama had received up to 5,000 complaints about conditions.
She also said that questions had been asked in the House of Commons about the issues investigated, and the Royal College of Nursing conducted research into patient dignity on hospital wards in the wake of its broadcast.
In November the panel found no evidence that Ms Haywood broke the NHS Trust's policy on whistle-blowing by raising concerns about patient care in the documentary, or that she failed to assist colleagues when a patient was having a seizure.
A BBC spokesman said: "There was clearly a strong public interest in revealing that some elderly people were not receiving the level of care we expect from our national health service.
"Panorama believes that Margaret Haywood has done the elderly population of this country a great service."
'Right and proper'
The decision was criticised by Joyce Robins, co-director of Patient Concern.
She said: "This just demonstrates the priorities of the regulators - rules come before patients every time. The message that goes out to nurses is: however badly you see patients treated, keep your face shut.
"This makes total nonsense of all the talk about openness and transparency in the NHS. Cover-up is the order of the game."
Ms Haywood's actions were also defended by Gary Fitzgerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse.
He said: "We know that we're seeing older people suffering the most appalling care and neglect too often in our care environments.
"In that context I believe what Margaret Haywood did and what Panorama did was right and proper.
"She said the public needs to be aware of what exactly's going on in these places, in these wards, we didn't have any other way of telling them and I think that's the point".
