Chief hits out at TV dramas

TV dramas such as Casualty and Holby City are filled with staff acting unprofessionally, the head of scandal-hit Stafford Hospital said today.

Antony Sumara, who has taken over at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Hospital Trust, said the programmes were entertaining but showed poor conduct and blatant breaches of patient confidentiality.

Earlier this year, a damning Healthcare Commission report found "appalling" standards of care at Mid Staffs, with patients and relatives describing "Third World" conditions on the wards.

An independent inquiry is currently being held in the town looking into events at the hospital where hundreds of patients are alleged to have died needlessly in a three-year period.

Mr Sumara, who took up his post in July, four months after the hospital's problems were laid bare, has called on programme makers to reflect what really goes on in hospitals, where staff have a demanding job.

He said NHS staff either "avoid NHS-based soap operas like the plague or watch them as an unofficial sofa critic".

The programmes may also serve to put off young people who may be aspiring to a career in medicine.

Writing in this week's Scrubbing Up column on the BBC website, he said: "It can be quite therapeutic after a long day at work to wind down by watching the drama unfold on Holby City and Casualty. However, the drama isn't limited to medical emergencies.

"There is a very serious side to these programmes and the influence they can have on the viewing public.

"For example, what impression of a career in the NHS is set in the minds of young people aspiring to be the future generation of nurses, doctors or chief executives when they watch programmes filled with unprofessionalism and poor conduct?

"Nurses, doctors and other staff regularly gossip, flirt and argue with each other, usually while treating a patient at the same time.

"But, not to worry, the patient doesn't mind and more often than not joins in!"

He said "It cannot be denied that some people may think this is a true picture of hospital life".