Paramedic cautioned for phone call accusations
AFORMER Cornwall-based paramedic made anonymous phone calls to an ex-colleague accusing him of using cocaine a day before he took his own life.
The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) employee killed himself on November 18, 2017, a day after receiving three anonymous, voice-altered calls made by Darren Cornish.
Cornish, who left SWASFT in around February 2017 but continued to work as a paramedic, was the subject of a disciplinary hearing overseen by the Health & Care Professions Tribunal Service which resulted in him being issued a caution.
At the hearing, it was heard that both Cornish and Person A – the deceased – were employed at SWASFT until 2017. During the calls Cornish withheld his number and altered his voice.
On October 13, 2017, Person A told a friend that he had received an anonymous phone call from someone accusing him of using cocaine and that he had previously received other calls alleging the same.
Person A reported the matter to police, and on November 17, 2017 at around 5.30pm, he told the same person he had received another telephone call. At dinner that evening, Person A told another friend about the call and told him that the caller’s number had been withheld, that they had disguised their voice and had said “get me some cocaine”.
Person A left the friend’s house at 6.30am. His body was found later the same day. He had taken his own life.
Following the tragic death, one of Person A’s friends checked his phone bill and saw there had been three telephone calls the day prior. She used an app called Show My Number and found that it was Cornish’s number from which the calls were made.
Cornish was spoken to by police in January 2018 when he admitted that he made the anonymous telephone calls saying he did so to try to stop Person A taking illegal drugs. No further action was taken in respect of criminal proceedings.
The disciplinary panel had regard to Cornish’s admission that he made the calls and ruled his motivation for making the telephone calls was not altruistic, but stemmed from issues he had with management at SWASFT.
The panel was of the view that the matters fell far below the standards of acceptable behaviour for a registered professional, adding that a registered paramedic making accusatory anonymous telephone calls, from a withheld number and using an altered voice, motivated by issues with management, would not ensure the general public’s trust and confidence in either the individual paramedic or the profession as a whole.
At the hearing, it was heard that the events took place some time ago and stemmed from a grievance with SWASFT. Cornish is said to have taken steps to address his behaviour and there have been no complaints against him since he changed jobs.
Cornish’s two-year caution, according to the panel, ‘would serve as a deterrent to other professionals; it would maintain public confidence in the regulatory process and it would uphold the reputation of the profession’.