TV

The Speaker
1x04 Episode 4
The sooner Duncan goes the better, if you ask me.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Magazines

SFX #182
So packed with interesting things that I actually read most of it! Shocking, I know. Amongst the goodness in this Star Trek-bedecked issue there's...

a good interview with Alan Moore, as the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is out in the next week or two;

a retrospective on Babylon 5 (I wonder if Straczynski still hates SFX?);

a decent feature on Ashes to Ashes series two, complete with hints at series three and an exclusive, amusing comic;

a look back at the acclaimed 1981 BBC radio adaptation of Lord of the Rings, which I keep meaning to listen to;

a fairly large feature on sci-fi-related computer games, which includes The Secret of Monkey Island at a very respectable #6 in a Top 20 count-up, plus a look at worthwhile forthcomers;

a reviews section that means I now have a whole lot more stuff I want toread/watch/hear;

plus a very good news section. I'm not going to go summarising it here, but it took ages to get through so it must've been interesting.

Oh, and some big exclusive feature on that Star Trek thing, if you're interested.

Nursing Council don't care about patients' wellbeing

Shocking and slightly untruthful title got your attention? Good. Now read this:

A nurse who secretly filmed for the BBC to reveal the neglect of elderly patients at a hospital has been struck off for misconduct...

She was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council which said she failed to "follow her obligations as a nurse". Ms Haywood, a nurse for over 20 years, said she thought she had been treated harshly and had put patients first... The chair of the panel, Linda Read, said Ms Haywood had prioritised the filming, which in the view of the panel "was a major breach of the code of conduct"...

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...

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".

Read the full story here.