by Thinus Ferreira
The BBC and its shuttered British Holby City TV soap has donated fully-working ventilators to the new NHS Nightingale field hospital that is being set up in London to treat Covid-19 patients.
On social media BBC Studios said that "fully operational ventilators from the Holby City set arrived at the new Nightingale Hospital".
Simon Harper, Holby City's executive producer, said that the TV series "is only too happy to help to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real-life medics".
In the image shared on social media the wrapped ventilators can be seen as the machines are offloaded from a van.
Fully operational ventilators from the Holby City set arrived at the new Nightingale Hospital yesterday. @BBCCasualty & @BBCHolbyCity Exec Producer Simon Harper said: "We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real life medics." pic.twitter.com/oUFaRPVhyn— BBC Studios (@bbcstudios) April 10, 2020
Holby City, set in a fictional city, seen on BBC Studios Africa's BBC First (DStv 119) channel together with sister soap Casualty, both paused production in mid-March.
BBC Studios in a statement said that "prior to the coronavirus crisis the Holby City production took delivery of two working anaesthetic machines with ventilators attached but immediately asked our supplier to offer them to the National Health Service (NHS) when we became aware of the urgent demand several weeks ago".
"We received confirmation this week they had been sent to Nightingale London."
"The other ventilators currently used on-set were purchased many years ago and are unsuitable for medical use, whereas the machines delivered to the NHS were replacements that would allow the show to more accurately reflect a modern hospital setting."
"All the personal protection equipment (PPE) on Holby City, Casualty and River City has gone to support our amazing NHS staff at several locations around the United Kingdom."
