Looking back at our 2023 media coverage
After waving goodbye to 2023, we have looked back at some of the amazing stories we’ve told about our hospitals through the media last year.
Starting off in January, The Financial Times covered a clinical trial that begun at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, focusing on a new diagnostic technology called iKOr that uses fibre optics to find the causes of heart disease. Researchers say it could eventually help patients suffering from cardiovascular symptoms, whose cause cannot be identified with current techniques.
Then in February, The Times newspaper was given exclusive access to the A&E at The Royal London Hospital and shadowed the nurse in charge, Ana Magalhaes, as she navigated through a busy shift.
In March, St Bartholomew's Hospital celebrated its 900th birthday which attracted plenty of media coverage, including BBC Breakfast visiting the hospital for a live segment in addition to pieces by Good Morning Britain, The Times, The Evening Standard, The Express and GB News.
As we headed towards Summer and celebrated 75 years of the NHS, Martin Griffiths, trauma surgeon at The Royal London Hospital, appeared on the BBC's Extraordinary Portraits: NHS75 Special. The episode, which aired in July, featured Martin speaking about his experience working in the NHS.
Also in July, the team behind the Remote Access Emergency Coordination Hub (REACH) were featured on BBC News. The BBC’s Hugh Pym spent time with our consultants at The Royal London Hospital as well as the London Ambulance Service as they worked together to help reduce unnecessary hospital visits. The team were also featured on a podcast hosted by Hugh.
August saw the premiere of the second series of Channel 4’s Emergency which looked at the work of the London Trauma Network and follows patients through the trauma pathway at four centers across London, including The Royal London. Our stories included 13-year-old Alicia who suffered a deep wound to her thigh following a collision with a lamppost whilst riding her e-scooter.
In the same month, the Evening Standard interviewed Dr Chris Garrett, a consultant diabetes psychiatrist, about a programme he is leading which looks into the link between poor mental health and recurrent diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
Autumn saw The Times and the Evening Standard publish pieces on our research with Queen Mary University, which found that a new drug combination can double the overall survival for patients with bladder cancer that has spread.
In November, our trauma and emergency department teams at The Royal London Hospital were featured as part of a wider program on London’s knife crisis. Professor Karim Brohi, consultant vascular and trauma surgeon and clinical director of the London Major Trauma Network, also spoke on BBC Radio London about youth violence across London.
Then in the final month of 2023, staff at Newham Hospital were featured in a BBC London piece which looked at pressures they are facing during the winter period. Karl Mercer visited the Urgent Treatment Centre and the Barts Health Orthopaedic Centre as part of the segment which looked at how Newham Hospital is preparing for the upcoming winter months.
2023 has been a busy year for media at Barts Health and we are looking forward to sharing more stories in 2024!