Hospital Chairman writes to SCA

The Chairman of the King Henry VII hospital in London, Lord Glenarthur, has written a letter to the Chairman of Southern Cross Austereo, Max Moore-Wilton. 

The letter was written regarding the prank call to the hospital, which resulted in the death of Jacintha Saldanha yesterday. In it he refers to Southern Cross Austereo's actions as 'truly appalling'.

The full text of Lord Glenarthur's letter is below.

The letter has become public at the same time as Jacintha's family have released a photo of her to the media (right).

Letter from Lord Glenarthur to Max Moore-Wilton

I am writing to protest in the strongest possible terms about the hoax call made from your radio station, 2Day FM, to this hospital last Tuesday.

King Edward VII's Hospital cares for sick people, and it was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call.

Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station's management, was truly appalling.

The immediate consequence of these premeditated and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients.

The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words.

I appreciate that you cannot undo the damage which has been done but I would urge you to take steps to ensure that such an incident could never be repeated.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has written to Jeremy Simpson, General Manager of 2Day FM, asking him to "consider the personal toll such a prank could exact from a professional caregiver".

This is undoubtedly the biggest crisis the Southern Cross Austereo (or Austereo) group has faced.

SCA Chairman Max Moore-Wilton has responded to this letter – see it here

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