NHS 111 Scandal

Name & date of news source

The Times UK - 19 February 2016

The Daily Mail - 29 February 2016

The Telegraph - 28 February 2016

Type of news source

Newspaper, Web Version and

Video Report

Newspaper, Web Version and

Video Report

Newspaper, Web Version and

Video Report

What approach does this news

report take?

Although overall a neutral

approach shown, there are some
elements of blame showing a
sense of bias. However a good
range quotes are still provided.

Again, although the report is

neutral, it is clear that the Daily
Mail believes that the NHS did
commit wrongdoing.

Neutral approach shown. No

direct claims are made and points
are backed up with notable
evidence.

Are there any differences in

content with other news
sources?

The Times ensures that all of their

points are credible by having a
quote in at least every other
sentence to promote reliability.
The Times was the only news
provider to take direct quotes and
sentences from the original NHS
report to present the story as
accurately as possible. Finally, the
Times is the only provider that
uses a sense of repetition in words
such as life-threatening to
display the scale of the issue.

The Daily Mail includes a range

of bullet point facts at the
beginning of the article for
readers to quickly obtain
information about the case. This is
different to the other news sources
where all of the information can
only be found in the text body. In
addition to this, the Daily Mail is
by far the provider that provides
the greatest amount of numerical
figures to present its legitimacy
and again to show the scale of the
issue.

The Telegraph is the only news

source out of the three that I
selected that provides subsections
to break up the text in order to
make it easier for reader to
comprehend the content. In
addition, the Telegraph links the
story to previous stories and cases
giving a history on the situation
and what has happened in the
past.

How does news report portray

the public service/s?

The report portrays the public

service as widely negative as it
indicates that many of the key
executives were involved,
established by the chief
executive Paul Sutton, and
overseen by at least four
executives. This poses an issue
for the National Health Service.
The story also indicates that the
employees who were in charge of
taking medical calls were
unaware, taking the blame away
from them, Instead, paramedics
with just one days training in
call-handling, were ordered to
phone thousands of cases back to
see if ambulances were really
needed. This shows that there is
an issue with the NHS as a whole.

This report presents the National

Health Service very negatively
through indicating the effects the
policy had on the operations of
the NHS and how the decisions
were made. The story presented
that the decision was made by the
health chief, deliberately delayed
under a secret 'rogue policy'
approved by a senior health chief,
it has been revealed. However,
the report does allow the NHS to
have their say and protect their
image through placing the blame
on the health chief as shown,
The report, ordered by the NHS
regulator Monitor, is critical of
the decisions taken by Mr Sutton,
who has led the trust since 2006,
on a salary of 160,000, after
receiving a 30,000 pay rise over
two years.

The Telegraph tries their best to

protect the image of the NHS by
immediately putting the aim on
the Health Chief, Ambulances
dispatched after people called the
NHS 111 helpline were
deliberately delayed under a
secret policy authorised by a
senior health service executive, a
leaked report seen by The Daily
Telegraph reveals. This provides
a better image for the NHS than
saying that it was an NHS wide
decision or by implying that in the
opening few paragraphs, as done
by other providers.

What impact might it have on

societies views of the public
service/s

This can have a very negative

impact on the NHS as a whole as
this report really indicates that the
NHS have been heavily involved
and does not point out the blame
as well as the other two articles.
This can lower the trust of
citizens for the NHS.

This report again can lead to

detrimental effects for the NHS as
they very much present why the
organisation is untrustworthy and
correlates the crimes to the
organisation as a whole.

This report has words that are

very cleverly used to protect the
image of the NHS which can
provide the citizens living in the
region with a better perception
than that represented from the
other two articles.

What is your opinion of the

quality of this news report?

I think although some fingers are

pointed to the NHS as a whole,
this report is vert through and
covers a lot of detail from the
beginning of the story, the initial
report, the crime and the potential
consequences.

I believe that this report presents a

good amount of numerical figures
which backs up the story given
very well, showing
professionalism and accuracy
regardless of the fact that not all
the information is provided.

I think that this report is very

professional and respectful of the
public services and what they do.
It does not influence the readers
negatively and does not
sensationalise.