My reply from my complaint to the BBC Dear Mrs Harris Thank you for contacting us regarding ‘Holby City’, broadcast on 30 July. Your concerns regarding the portrayal of organ donation during this episode were raised with the Series Producer, Simon Harper, who has responded as follows: “In no way was it our intention to upset, offend or indeed suggest that our recent portrayal of a heart transplant in ‘Holby City’ was an accurate reflection of how such a scenario would typically be handled within the NHS, for whose real-life professionals we have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration. We hope the depiction of their daily heroism is at the heart of our show. ‘Holby City’ is by its very nature highly character driven by our regulars, who have flaws. We devised this story as very much rooted in the flaws of our regular character Mo, who is seen to care passionately about her patients but often to act impulsively and bombastically. She can get too emotionally involved in a way that can sometimes have her breaking the rules against the advice of her peers – and indeed, with consequences. In that light, it is worth pointing out that the story is not over and will come back to haunt Mo in the weeks ahead and challenge her defiance. Each point of transplant protocol was carefully researched, as always, with our medical experts. This formed the basis of a story which hopefully showed the emotional and human cost should those protocols, which are clearly in place for a very good reason, ever be ignored, as they were in this entirely fictional scenario. We were at pains to make it clear that what Mo was doing was against protocol, even if well intentioned and for the good of her patient. The purpose of the character of Jonny in this episode was to vocalise this angrily. He made it clear that Mo, in her emotionally motivated desire to help Hattie, had blundered insensitively through protocol and set off a chain of consequence that should never have happened – such as the mothers of the donor and recipient meeting. The story was also devised to try to illuminate and explore the ethics surrounding transplants in a way that seems very much current and of the moment. Especially with the opt-out donor system about to be put into practise in Wales, and questions surrounding the right of relatives to overrule the wishes of the donor card carrier. The episode asks if Mo was right to keep operating and save the life of Hattie – who otherwise would have died – whilst also asking if, at rock bottom, Nicole, the bereaved mother of the donor, had the moral right to stop her daughter’s wishes being carried out and her heart harvested. ‘Holby City’ doesn’t pretend or claim to answer these questions, the rights and wrongs, as they are clearly enormously emotive and complex. But they did seem like important questions to ask, in our quest, as a show to be a medical drama that is relevant. It’s worth also pointing out that in a medical drama, all the characters will, to a degree, sometimes make mistakes, small, or huge, as in this case. And we will always dramatise the fall-out and make clear, we hope, the moral and ethical implications.” Thanks once again for taking the time to get in touch. Kind Regards ANapology on air would have been goodmake people realise that the programme is fictionnot fact!! BBC Complaints
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 20:12:52 +0000
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