Trust chief faces TV programme probe

The NHS Appointments Commission may launch an investigation into
the chairperson of a London primary care trust because of her links
to a television programme branded “racist”.

Mee Ling Ng, chairperson of Southwark Primary Care Trust, has been
cited to the commission over the broadcast last month of a series
of short documentaries on the Chinese community in Britain. Called
The Missing Chink, the programmes, broadcast on Channel 4,
were made by British-Oriental theatre company Mu-Lan, which Ng also
chairs.

The issue was passed to the commission after members of the British
Chinese community complained about the programmes’ “racist” title
and negative stereotyping of the Chinese people.

One of the complainants said Ng should have realised the offence
the programmes would cause and that it was “incompatible” with her
PCT role.

PCTs, like all public bodies, have a statutory responsibility to
promote race equality.

The programmes sparked almost 200 complaints to Ofcom, the
television standards regulator, and 19 MPs signed an early day
motion criticising the title for being “blatantly offensive and
counterproductive”.

Southwark PCT felt it was inappropriate to respond to what it
called a “personal” matter.