RCP Statement RCP wrongly accused of trying to undermine Remedy UK march 19 March 07

From Mmc

19 March 07

RCP wrongly accused of trying to undermine Remedy UK march

On Saturday 17 March the President appeared on BBC TV talking about the danger of drinking too much alcohol at home. We have had several messages accusing the College of deliberately trying to undermine the Remedy UK march on Saturday by issuing a press statement on alcohol to coincide with the march. We did not release a press statement on alcohol last week - the interview was entirely at the request of the BBC's reporter. It was pre-recorded on Thursday, and we had no control over when the BBC chose to broadcast it. It was not embargoed, so could have been used at any time.

We were therefore very surprised and disappointed to see this given more prominence in some BBC outlets than the march on Saturday - this would never have been our intention, and is surprising in the context of the media's interest in the politics of the NHS - the coverage given to David Cameron on Sunday 18 March is witness to this.

We did not deliberately attempt (nor would we have) to undermine the Remedy UK march. In fact, the College provided media facilities and advice to the Remedy UK organisers, including sending out an advisory note to journalists on their behalf about the Saturday press conference. The RCP PR department spent much time in the previous week assisting the Remedy UK organisers with their press conference and on other logistical issues (as appreciated on the Remedy UK website.)

The College has a wide public health remit, and lobbies for better public policies on issues such as tobacco, alcohol, obesity etc. To ignore the opportunity the BBC gave us to bring these public health messages to the public would be negligent - but in this case the timing of the broadcasts was very unfortunate.