Media FAQs
All requests for staff or patient interviews must be made through the Press Office (Tel: 01743 261378) and not to individual wards or departments. Please note that for reasons of patient confidentiality we are not normally able to accept requests for interviews with patients except where a patient has already approached the Trust to offer to be interviewed about their care and treatment.
We are also not normally able to accommodate media interviews on Trust premises due to:
- our duty of care for all patients within our hospitals
- the need to ensure privacy and dignity (e.g. avoiding undue concern or distress to other patients within the ward or department)
- the importance of allowing our staff to focus on their primary role of providing clinical care to meet the health needs of our patients
We may be able to accommodate interviews on hospital premises in certain circumstances, but will normally need several days’ notice in order to ensure that we can discuss this fully with ward staff and other patients in the department.
Yes – The Trust is now offering an opportunity to take advantage of advertising space inside its flagship staff and public newsletters. This is a guaranteed way of getting your message across to thousands of NHS workers and members of the public. For more information, please see our Advertising Rates Leaflet. It may also be worth consulting our advertising guidelines leaflet. All advertising enquiries can be made through the Trust’s Communications Team by emailing: sath.commsteam@nhs.net
We respect patient confidentiality and follow strict rules to protect patients in our care. We cannot give out any information about a patient unless we are given permission from the individual or their next of kin. Even if a patient has approached you direct with their story, we are not normally able to respond unless the Trust has the consent of the patient.
There are restrictions on filming in some areas of our hospital sites, such as A&E and our Maternity Units, and the Trust reserves the right to decline any requests at its discretion. Our priority is always to ensure we protect the well being and confidentiality of our patients, visitors and staff. This means that interviews, filming or photography cannot be carried out on the hospital sites without the express permission of the Press Office. If you carry out interviews, filming or photography without permission, our hospital security teams will request that you leave the site immediately.
Any patients, visitors or members of staff who are photographed or filmed must complete and sign a consent form. If they are under 16 years of age then the parent or guardian must complete the form.
A member of the Communications Team must be present at all times when photography/filming is taking place on site.
If any requests for photography or filming on site, other than for news footage or for the Trust’s own purposes, are granted then they will usually be subject to a charge. This helps us ensure that Trust funds are not being used to cover administration and staff costs. There may also be additional charges for the use of specific equipment or out-of-hours supervision.
The Trust usually charges £250 per hour to accommodate photography/filming, but this figure may vary depending on the amount of support required to accommodate a specific request.
The Press Office would require copies of your Public Liability Insurance Document and Location Release Form before any photography or filming takes place.
If you would like to use our sites as a location for photography or filming, please contact the Press Office on 01743 261378 or email sath.commsteam@nhs.net
Please be aware that these are working hospital sites and every day our priority is to provide care for thousands of patients, to welcome hundreds of visitors, and to provide a supportive work environment for thousands of staff and volunteers.
Understandably, this means that we have a number of obligations to protect the health and wellbeing of the people using the hospital site, and in turn these obligations apply to anyone proposing an event on the hospital site.
You are welcome to reproduce written content from the website of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in accordance with the terms of our Privacy Statement.
We are not currently able to provide pictures for syndication via our website. Pictures can be requested from the Communications Team.