Freedom of the press: LRH designates separate area to allow media coverage

Hospital administration says media not banned from premises

PESHAWAR: The media has not been banned by the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) administration and a separate place has been created at the facility where journalists will be briefed during a “situation of mass emergency”.

This was mentioned in a statement issued by the hospital management on Monday.

The document stated that the hospital staff’s core duty was to save maximum lives and provide the best medical assistance possible during mass emergencies. As a result, a separate location has been created where all media personnel can gather to be briefed about an emergency situation without causing any interruptions.

“We appreciate the role of the media,” the statement quoted Colonel (retd) Dr Hamid Saeed Haq, the hospital’s director, as saying. “We have designated a separate place where we can provide information to journalists in a timely fashion.”

On April 30, 2015, the LRH administration decided to establish standard operating procedures to manage media coverage at the facility.

The guidelines were introduced following complaints from patients that media persons, especially television journalists, tend to crowd the trauma centre and emergency ward, causing immense problems for all others concerned.

Earlier, on January 19, Khyber Teaching Hospital imposed a ban on the entry of media personnel on its premises and all hospitals in the provincial capital were directed to nominate focal persons to address the media.

The decision came following a meeting between media personnel and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan where the former shared problems they encounter during media coverage.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2016.