'Sex in pharmacy' and cover-up claims made by former nursing director

The allegations have been made by Maggie Southcote-Want, who is taking her former employer to a tribunal claiming unfair dismissal after being sacked in 2007.

Ms Southcote-Want claims she was forced to cover up several incidents between 2005 and 2007, including:

• Two employees being caught having sex in the pharmacy during working hours
• Bodies being dumped on the morgue floor
• A dead body being photographed and uploaded to the internet
• Breast cancer biopsies being wrongly analysed
• A leading consultant being suspended for surgical error

A Milton Keynes Hospital spokesman said: “We are confident that any untoward incidents were properly investigated.”

Readers' comments (14)

• Jacqueline Bouabre | 22-May-2010 12:44 pm

  HI
  Milton Keynes Hospital have always had complain .Many Black nursing working in that hospital have being discrimated on the ground of their race and colour. This hospital need to be investigated

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• Anonymous | 22-May-2010 3:51 pm

  i agree with above Milton Keynes do need to be investigated i have had nursing and personal experience with this hospital and its the aptsolute pits and they all cover up nursing, medical staff , i only hope in the future what goes around lands squarely back in there laps, and they get treated as i and my family were

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• Anonymous | 24-May-2010 3:05 am

  Linda, perhaps English is not Jacqueline's first language and she is therefore not as apt at written English as yourself. Perhaps you should not be so quick to judge?

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• Anonymous | 25-May-2010 1:04 pm

  Were the employees caught having sex on their breaks...if so no one suffered...it happens regularly in hospitals.

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• Anonymous | 25-May-2010 1:07 pm

  I dont know anything about MK Hospital but its unnecessary to slag another professional because of spelling or grammar. when posting comments most people do not recheck their comments for these little things. if Linda is as smart then i think she gets the point Jacqueline is trying to put across. IT skills are not a prerequisite of this profession & as a result typing is a new field for some of us. i agree with anonymous above.
  P/S after reading your letter Linda, your spelling isnt that good either!

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• Anonymous | 26-May-2010 11:53 pm

  Actually I disagree with some of the above comments, spelling and grammar is a basic requisite for most professions, with the exception of an odd typo, some of the comments are actually pretty appalling for supposedly educated professionals. If the basics cannot be upheld, I would seriously call into account their ability to work in this field.
  
  

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• Anonymous | 27-May-2010 11:01 am

  I posted the 1.07pm comment & I totally agree with anonymous [11.53pm] fully. even in the workplaces some nurses cant write a simple line or spelling. maybe its the educational system thats at fault. I qualified only about 3yrs ago but then universities will never fail students because of the above so isnt it a bit late now to be passing this judgement or 'call into account their ability to work in this field'? i think if we were strict enough so many people wouldnt make it as nurses due to these little things, but i am not passing judgement as to who should be considered fit enough to pass/practise. however the point i was trying to make was with regard to spelling, its only because some people just cant type even if they can spell... let alone locate certain letters on pc keyboard. so yes spelling & grammar prerequisite, ...IT skills, maybe not. [Tee]

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• mike | 28-May-2010 1:26 am

  Anonymous | 27-May-2010 11:01 am, I am the same anonymous above you. I do see your point about IT skills and their can be some allowances made for older Nurses who may not be able to defrag a hard drive or something (we are not IT specialists after all) but everyone should be able to type, even if they have to take their time; the letters on the keys are pretty clear after all. Basics are basics.
  
  However, I believe that Nursing is now a profession that is very highly educated and highly skilled. It is not enough any more to simply have a caring nature. Whilst this is still a prerequisite, a certain level of education is needed for this career now and I believe that the basics of good grammar and spelling is the cornerstone of being able to handle the academic side of this career.
  
  So therefore, I would say that if some Nurses do struggle with this level of education, then perhaps they would be better off in a career that does not require it. That is all I am saying. If for example they struggle with basics, then more advanced practice will be much more difficult and potentially risky as a result.
  

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• mike | 28-May-2010 1:34 am

  But we are getting slightly off topic. Part of me is thinking why now? If she was so bothered by all of these things, why did she not come forward at the time? Sometimes I believe some things are pretty black and white, Moral standards are one of them. If you see something is wrong, you speak out, or you don't. What you don't do is wait until you are 'wronged' in some way and then use it to hit back, which is what I believe this person is trying to do.
  
  As for being 'forced' to cover up incidents? I don't know, sounds a bit fishy to me.

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• deborah smith | 28-May-2010 10:52 am

  I work at MK hospital, and I know that my team work very hard. Patient care is our priority. I am very offended that people are critising my hospital. It does have its faults, like many others. But it is by no means the worse. My husband has been treated here, and I have had children here too. Both of which have been superb!
  Im sure some of you do not work as hard as myself and my team.

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• david hamilton | 29-May-2010 5:12 pm

  I agree with Deborah, some people just cannot help slaging each other off, we are are supposed to be professionals so please act like one. As for 'spellllinng' well who is perfect ???.

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• kathleen white | 5-Jun-2010 11:38 pm

  To Mike 29-May-2010, I agree that when you see something wrong, you speak out. I do not agree with him that there is an option not to speak out.
  
  How do we know that Maggie Southcote-Want did not speak out at the time?
  
  Most people who speak out finish up being suspended.
  
  In 1999 I spoke out about breaches in Child Protection and Health & Safety policies. The sham investigation that followed took 4 years, during which I was subjected to unbelievable intimidation and humiliation.
  
  The RCN officer (allegedly) representing me was in fact supporting corrupt management and human resources. Eventually I was suspended, eventhough I had done nothing wrong (apart from speaking out). They called it "special leave" and told my colleagues that I was sick.
  
  I took the corrupt/incompetent Trust to an Employment Tribunal. The Trust settled out of court a week before the hearing. I simply disappeared from my specialist practitioner post. Most of my colleagues do not know what happened, as everything was done behind closed doors.
  The money that was squandered on the sham investigation and settlement was in reality stolen from patient care.
  
  Sadly, nothing has been learned, as I know of several situations have been similarly mismanaged since. Until the NHS can be transformed into a learning organization precious resources will continue to be poured into the drain of bullying and intimidation.
  
  So, we should not judge,without knowing the full story. "Untoward incidents" are not always properly investigated and being forced to cover up incidents is all too common. I and many other courageous nurses can testify to that.
  
  

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• Anonymous | 25-Jul-2010 11:31 am

  There have been many many many examples (usually not brought to public attention by NHS trusts) of staff being suspended on full pay, (tax payers money that was supposed to go towards providng healthcare, remember) and the investigations taking an incredible amount of time to come to fruition, which is often a large pay-off to the individual concerned.... This is totally wrong. This money is being stolen from patient care.
  
  Trusts should be made accountable for the time taken to resolve legal matters, and should not be allowed to cover up scandals. I have seen for myself how corrupt higher management can be, when thier main concern is covering thier collective back, rather than the cost to patient care, in all its forms (e.g. the cost of incompetent management and incompetent money management, the cost of having staff that do not perform/ actually cause harm etc etc).
  
  This has led to many well documented, and probably many many more undocumented cases of individuals being bullied and harrassed by NHS management, who seem to have no accountability, leading to professionals being too frightened for thier own position to whistle-blow when they know they should. This apathy is killing our profession, and probably patients, directly and indirectly.
  
  It takes a great deal of courage and sacrifice to stand up and do what's right, knowing the cost is your reputation and career that you love.
  
  Personally, i would not be at all surprised to find out this director of nursing is telling the complete truth, and has been bullied and forced into covering up things that she knew was wrong.... THIS HAPPPENS ALL THE TIME IN THE NHS.
  
  It make a mockery of the system, professionalism and the trust patients put in the NHS. Its disgusting, and its real.
  
  Its very sad, and i don't know how to fix it.

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• Anonymous | 25-Jul-2010 11:39 am

  regarding spelling and nursing-
  
  I think it does bring our profession down (below the level of professional!) if we can't ALL consistently spell correctly, 'typos' are different (not everyone can be a rapid accurate typist), but i think it should be a prerequisite that all registered nurses are able to fluently communicate in english (as we are working in the UK), in all mediums (speaking, reading and writing) for, firstly, patient safety, and secondly professionalism.
  
  I really don't think anything less is a reasonable option.
  
  I would not go and work in france unless i was fluent in communicating in french.
  
  We make ourselves and our profession look bad here.

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