Complaint
The programme included a discussion involving Pat Cullen, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, on pay for nurses in the context of impending strike action. 听A viewer complained that the item conveyed an incorrect impression of nurses鈥 pay by leaving London weighting out of account and suggesting nurses were not paid overtime.听 The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the 大象传媒鈥檚 editorial standards of accuracy.听
Outcome
In the course of the discussion Ms Cullen referred to 鈥a nurse on 拢27,000 a year living in Central London鈥.听 The ECU noted that this did not include an uplift for London weighting (referred to as a High Cost Area Supplement by the NHS), the minimum supplement for nurses in inner London being 拢4,888 per year, and agreed that the difference was potentially significant for viewers鈥 understanding of a discussion in which the level of nurses鈥 pay and the justification it provided for strike action was central.听 This aspect of the complaint was upheld.听 Ms Cullen also referred to nurses 鈥渨orking the additional unpaid hours they do鈥 to support the NHS, which the complainant interpreted as a claim that nurses did not receive overtime payments.听 In the ECU鈥檚 view, however, it was a reference to nurses on occasion working voluntarily for extra hours, and was unlikely to have given viewers in general the impression that they had no contractual entitlement to overtime payments.听 This aspect of the complaint was not upheld.
Partly upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the Board of 大象传媒 News and discussed with the programme team.听