So the Staff Nurse killer Colin Norris is now going to prison after being convicted of killing at least four elderly female patients in his care. Good .
The circumstances of these killings worry me though.
Here is a Staff Nurse (a relatively senior post) who was able to acquire large enough volumes of insulin to poison at least four people. Surely there are some tracking methods that would have flagged this as being an issue?
Pharmaceutical insulin is used by diabetics to replace that which they do not produce naturally themselves and so allow them to function like anyone else. The quantities that Norris was using to kill these women would have kept the average diabetic well for about 6months. How did such a large quantity go unnoticed? Are there really so few checks on nursing staff that this was possible without detection and so it was only another member of the nursing staff who became concerned when he predicted the death of one of the patients that led to his arrest?
The last case similar to this was Shipman - who used morphine to kill elderly patients - and again his relatively huge requirements for the drug went unnoticed.
Whilst I am terribly sorry for those that have left loved ones to the hands of these killers, I do take a look at the system that allows them to abuse their positions so tragically.
Jailing him at Newcastle Crown Court, Mr Justice Griffith Williams said: “You are, I have absolutely no doubt, a thoroughly evil and dangerous man.” I agree with Justice Williams - but would like to add
“and the system that you worked in is neglectful and should share some of the responsibility.”
I have run out of coffee - fancy buying me one? Tags: Anyone, arrest, care, circumstances, colin norris, Court, Crown, crown court, dangerous man, death, detection, diabetics, drug, elderly patients, going to prison, insulin, Jailing, justice williams, killer, killers, killings, member, morphine, mr justice, Mr Justice Griffith Williams, Newcastle, no doubt, Nurse, nursing, Pharmaceutical, poison, post, quantities, quantity, responsibility, shipman, Staff, staff nurse, system, whilst
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