UK: British medics suspended for joining 'lying down' craze
Thu Sep 10 04:43:10 EST 2009
Wed Sep 9 18:43:10 UTC 2009
LONDON, Sept 9 AFP - Seven British hospital staff have been suspended for allegedly playing the "lying down game" - an internet craze where people photograph themselves face down in odd places - while on duty.
The doctors and nurses were suspended on full pay pending disciplinary hearings after they apparently photographed each other in silly poses throughout the hospital, their National Health Service (NHS) employers said.
They were reportedly pictured on resuscitation trolleys, ward floors and the air ambulance helipad, and the photos posted on social networking site Facebook as part of the "lying down game" which has sparked a global craze.
Tens of thousands of people have joined in and posted pictures of themselves lying face down in a variety of odd situations, from luggage racks on trains to inside jet engines on planes and on ironing boards.
The only rules are that participants must hold their palms flat against their side and point their toes to the ground, "just as if you were standing, but vertically-challenged", according to the Facebook group that started it.
The pictures of the medical staff, from the hospital's accident and emergency department and acute assessment unit, were spotted on Facebook by a member of hospital management and have since been taken down.
"A number of staff were suspended following allegations of unprofessional conduct while on night shift duty in the hospital during a weekend in August," said the medical director of Great Western Hospital NHS trust, Alf Troughton.
"This did not involve patients and we are satisfied that at no time was patient care compromised," he added.
"The Great Western Hospital sets high standards for staff behaviour at all times and therefore takes any such breaches extremely seriously.
"It is important to reassure patients and our workforce that this was an isolated incident and staff cover was maintained at all times.
"The allegations have been thoroughly investigated and seven members of staff remain suspended pending formal disciplinary hearings."
