Hospital will host live TV broadcasts

12:20pm Saturday 6th September 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

HEALTH experts in York will find themselves coming under the glare of the TV spotlight.

Satellite broadcaster Sky News is to film a series of live bulletins from York Hospital focusing on rationing within the NHS, which start tomorrow.

The station’s The Price Of Life series will look at cancer treatment, premature births, healthcare for smokers, drinkers, obese patients and the elderly, and the “health tourism” debate surrounding foreign visitors seeking treatment in the UK.

Fronted by Sky News health correspondent Thomas Moore, crews will film from the accident and emergency, neo-natal and special care baby units at the hospital which treats people from York, Selby and Ryedale. They will speak to hospital staff and find out the views of patients who have agreed to be filmed. Four live reports will be screened each day on the satellite channel, starting from 8.30am tomorrow.

“Sky News entered into talks with us several months ago and we agreed to host them for their health-themed week of rolling news,” said a hospital spokeswoman.

“It will use York Hospital as a base to look at the national issue of rationing of healthcare services, although they are not specifically looking at any problems related to this hospital.

“However, their team will be speaking to a number of our staff as experts in their particular fields and we hope it will be an opportunity to highlight the good work many of our departments are doing. We can also assure patients and visitors that the filming will not mean any disruption and that only patients who have agreed in advance to be interviewed will be included in the broadcasts.”

A Sky News spokeswoman said: “We chose York Hospital because the levels of access and freedom they were prepared to give us were above and beyond what any other hospital was willing to do.”