BBC Studios Donates Holby City Ventilators To NHS Nightingale Hospital

Fully-functioning ventilators on their way to the set of Holby City have been donated to the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, the BBC has announced.

With the UK death toll nearing 10,000 - with 9,875 confirmed fatalities as of 5pm on 10 April and more than 78,000 cases as of 9am on 11 April - NHS resources are becoming more and more stretched as workers fight to help save lives.

PA

But with countless much-needed ventilators being used up, a batch of extra machines have been donated from a pretty unlikely source: the TV set of a hospital drama.

Yep, I'll bet the vast majority of us assumed the ventilators and other equipment used in Holby City were merely props, but it turns out they're not only 'fully operational', but they've also now arrived at the new Nightingale Hospital for the NHS to use.

A photo of the ventilators being transported was shared on BBC Studios' Twitter feed, where Simon Harper, the show's executive producer, said: "We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real life medics."

While many social media users were slightly surprised by the news, that's not to say they weren't impressed.

One wrote: "No way! I never dreamt you actually used real working equipment! Brilliant."

In a later tweet, BBC Studios explained the donated ventilators had been ordered for production before the pandemic properly took hold of the UK, but the studio asked the supplier to divert delivery to the NHS once the need for equipment became vital.

The tweet said: "Prior to the coronavirus crisis Holby City production took delivery of two working anaesthetic machines with ventilators attached, but immediately asked our supplier to offer them to the NHS when we became aware of the urgent demand several weeks ago. We received confirmation this week they had been sent to Nightingale London.

BBC

"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 on Holby City, Casualty and River City has gone to support our amazing NHS staff at several locations around the UK."

Topics: UK News, Entertainment, TV and Film, News, Coronavirus, UK Entertainment

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman