Media

The communications team provides a point of contact for journalists working in all areas of the media.

We are also responsible for coordinating filming and photography requests, as well as finding and putting you in contact with experts who can act in an advisory capacity or perform interviews about specialist topics.

St George's Healthcare takes patient responsibility extremely seriously and the communications team strictly enforces patients’ rights when managing filming and photography on all of our sites.

Media enquiries

During normal office hours (Monday to Friday 09.00hrs-17.00hrs) all media enquiries should be directed to the communications team on 020 8725 5151, or emailed to communications@stgeorges.nhs.uk where a member of the team will evaluate and action your request.

If you have an urgent query outside working hours and on weekends and bank holidays please page the on-call press officer via 0844 822 2888. You will need to ask for pager SG548 and leave a short message regarding the subject and urgency of your enquiry and your contact details.

Condition checks

If you are calling the communications team for a condition check without a patient name and date of birth, there is little we can do to support your enquiry. Please bear in mind that our A&E department alone sees in excess of 300 patients a day.

When we receive requests for information about patients, it is our duty to seek consent from the patient or the patients’ relatives. Without consent, no patient information can be disclosed.

Filming requests

St George’s Healthcare receives documentary, location and live news broadcast filming requests on a daily basis – we consider all proposals on an individual basis and will try to accommodate proposals where possible, if appropriate.

No photography or filming is permitted without prior arrangement and agreement. Our patients always come first and we have a duty to protect their safety and confidentiality.

Anyone found filming or taking photographs on the trust premises without the permission of the trust’s communications team will be asked to leave by the security department and may face prosecution.

The trust has a location charge tariff in place for those wishing to film or take photographs for commercial purposes. The location charge will vary depending on the nature of the project but as a general guide:

£1,000 per half day
£2,000 for a full day

The fee is to be paid by sending a cheque payable St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust to:

St George's Healthcare NHS Trust
Communications Unit
Room 1.037 Grosvenor Wing
Blackshaw Road
London
SW17 0QT

If filming is due to take place outside the regular office hours, an additional site management fee will be added. Charges for parking are not covered by the location charge.

Those wishing to film will be expected to provide a copy of their public liability insurance document before filming starts. They will also be required to gain the prior consent of any patients or members of the public who take part in the filming/photography with copies of the consent forms supplied to the communications team.

All filming and photography requests and proposals should be emailed to the communications team in the first instance, via communications@stgeorges.nhs.uk providing the following information:

• Name and organisation
• Purpose of production
• Proposed subject/s covered by filming (including staff and patients)
• Timings – proposed filming dates and times, anticipated duration
• Number of people in the crew
• Information about the equipment – handheld, lighting, tripods etc
• When it will be shown/whether it has been commissioned

Requests for commercial filming and photography at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton and health centres in Wandsworth are managed by the NHS Wandsworth communications team. You can contact them on 020 8812 7605 or at media@swlondon.nhs.uk

 

 

 

 

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