Our response to misleading and upsetting content on social media
A member of the public came into RBH on Sunday evening at 6.45pm and filmed around our hospital, ending in our Emergency Department where they were challenged and they then left.
They posted the film across their social media to illustrate how empty our hospitals are, with a campaign group sharing the post saying our hospital was “quiet as a dormouse”. This is part of a sustained social media campaign across the country to attempt to prove that our hospitals are not treating large numbers of Covid patients.
We believe that this is a huge insult, not just to our staff who are working so tirelessly in the most demanding of circumstances, with many more Covid patients this month than ever before, but also to our patients and their families.
We also believe it is offensive to those members of the public who are following national lockdown and staying at home. We thank these people for all that they are doing to help protect themselves and the NHS.
The film of our hospital proved nothing. We would expect our hospital corridors to be clear and quiet on a Sunday evening, because:
1. We treat our patients in our wards
2. Visitors are not allowed at this time, except in exceptional circumstances
3. We need to keep our corridors clear for infection prevention and to enable the transportation of patients if they need to be moved to another area for their care
4. Our staff are working hard in the wards, treating their patients
5. There are no outpatient appointments at this time of the week
We are working with the police over this incident.
If any staff have concerns about anyone they see across our hospitals, we would ask them to please call 2222.
Thank you for all that you are doing.
