Today's Media Guardian carries a disturbing article by Philippa Braidwood, the head of communications at South West London and St George's NHS Trust. The trust was the subject of a Channel 4 Despatches documentary alleging malpractice. Braidwood criticises the programme as unfair, intrusive and inaccurate, while accepting some of the failings revealed.
It is extraordinary that a national television channel can get away with filming patients without their permission. But the media increasingly expects the right to do and say whatever they want. I recently had a run in with a BBC radio producer who accused me of 'playground tactics and spin' when I responded to his request for a comment on a customer case with a request for him to provide me with the customer's written authority to comment. I was simply following the fundamental principle that customers have the right to confidentiality. Until fairly recently, broadcasters rarely editorialised. Now they can't resist. It's a dangerous game, and, as Philippa Braidwood's article reveals, it's the most vulnerable who are most likely to get hurt.
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