Post by Teddy Bear on Feb 12, 2012 18:22:34 GMT
Besides the obvious rankling that the headline suggests, there are several other concerns that come to mind about this article today from The Telegraph.
Let's first take this paragraph;
The BBC would not reveal whether executives were referred to the centre for mental health issues or for drug addiction, but confirmed it had spent £18,949 on treatments in 2010 and 2011 because there was a “compelling” business reason to do so.
Anybody who has spent time complaining to BBC about their coverage will know immediately that this is BBC jargon to justify any excuse at all. One can also say that if the BBC made better business decisions, than the £80m expense and £38m loss debacle over the Digital Media Initiative. Or the £2BILLION spent on the unnecessary move to Salford. Perhaps without decisions like these there wouldn't be any 'compelling' reason to seek treatment at this exclusive centre.
I wonder how much in bonuses those responsible for those 'decisions' got. Any wonder the BBC want to focus on bankers?
Then given they need treatment, what's wrong with the NHS that most of us have to rely on? The usual hypocritical propaganda that the BBC foist on us about not seeking special schools or private health care, somehow doesn't seem to apply to them.
Then we have this paragraph;
However, it is understood that the corporation agreed to spend licence fee payers’ money on the care centre because its staff were “severely stressed” because of a series of initiatives which had not gone according to plan, and the pressures of cost cutting.
Now we're entering the propaganda machine. I don't know where Katherine Rushton, the author of this article, gets 'her understanding' from, and she certainly doesn't reveal it. Sounds like she is a BBC lackey looking for a job there. If the BBC can twist anything to suit their agenda, like blame the government or bankers, even where they themselves are clearly at fault, they don't miss the chance. Since also the excuse of stress is pure conjecture, why is it in the headline without quotation marks?
Blame it on 'stress over cuts'.
Cut them out altogether - stress over.
Let's first take this paragraph;
The BBC would not reveal whether executives were referred to the centre for mental health issues or for drug addiction, but confirmed it had spent £18,949 on treatments in 2010 and 2011 because there was a “compelling” business reason to do so.
Anybody who has spent time complaining to BBC about their coverage will know immediately that this is BBC jargon to justify any excuse at all. One can also say that if the BBC made better business decisions, than the £80m expense and £38m loss debacle over the Digital Media Initiative. Or the £2BILLION spent on the unnecessary move to Salford. Perhaps without decisions like these there wouldn't be any 'compelling' reason to seek treatment at this exclusive centre.
I wonder how much in bonuses those responsible for those 'decisions' got. Any wonder the BBC want to focus on bankers?
Then given they need treatment, what's wrong with the NHS that most of us have to rely on? The usual hypocritical propaganda that the BBC foist on us about not seeking special schools or private health care, somehow doesn't seem to apply to them.
Then we have this paragraph;
However, it is understood that the corporation agreed to spend licence fee payers’ money on the care centre because its staff were “severely stressed” because of a series of initiatives which had not gone according to plan, and the pressures of cost cutting.
Now we're entering the propaganda machine. I don't know where Katherine Rushton, the author of this article, gets 'her understanding' from, and she certainly doesn't reveal it. Sounds like she is a BBC lackey looking for a job there. If the BBC can twist anything to suit their agenda, like blame the government or bankers, even where they themselves are clearly at fault, they don't miss the chance. Since also the excuse of stress is pure conjecture, why is it in the headline without quotation marks?
Blame it on 'stress over cuts'.
Cut them out altogether - stress over.
BBC spends £19,000 treating stressed out staff at The Priory
The BBC has spent nearly £19,000 of public money on treating staff 'stressed' from the pressures of cost cutting and failed initiatives.
It is best known as a rehabilitation centre for drug-addicted celebrities, but The Priory has also gained a following among “stressed” staff at the BBC.
The corporation has spent nearly £19,000 of licence fee payers’ money on treating staff at the exclusive clinic over the last two years, it can be revealed.
The BBC would not reveal whether executives were referred to the centre for mental health issues or for drug addiction, but confirmed it had spent £18,949 on treatments in 2010 and 2011 because there was a “compelling” business reason to do so.
“While the BBC does not normally pay for private medical treatment, we may do so in exceptional circumstances if there is a compelling business reason to do so,” it said in documents revealed under the Freedom of Information Act.
However, it is understood that the corporation agreed to spend licence fee payers’ money on the care centre because its staff were “severely stressed” because of a series of initiatives which had not gone according to plan, and the pressures of cost cutting.
Among the faltering projects was an £80m initiative to do-away with video tapes and record all of the BBC’s footage on digital media instead. The Digital Media Initiative (DMI) floundered so badly that it was dubbed “Don’t Mention It” and Siemens, which was providing the infrastructure, was ditched from the overhaul project.
A senior insider said staff were also “at their wits’ end” because of the BBC’s cost cutting plan, Delivering Quality First, which will see it trim its budget by a fifth by April 2017, leading to around 2,000 job losses.
Another trigger is the corporation’s Nations and Regions project, which aims to move 50pc of all production outside London by 2016, often by relocating staff and placing great strain on their families.
However, the decision to send staff to such an expensive clinic has angered pressure groups.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “It is staggering that the BBC has spent such a huge sum of licence-fee payers' money sending employees to this exclusive clinic.
“Employers should take reasonable steps to look after their staff and should be sensitive to those struggling with mental health problems or addiction, but that doesn't need to extend to an expensive stay at the Priory.
“Most BBC viewers can't afford to convalesce at this kind of retreat. The NHS is good enough for licence-fee payers, so it should be good enough for BBC staff too."
The BBC’s bill with The Priory could be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the BBC’s bill for treating staff at private clinics.
It declined to respond to another request made under the Freedom of Information Act for the corporation’s total spend on mental health care, on the grounds that it would be too expensive to gather the information from a broad range of care institutions.
The Priory, which counts Kate Moss and singers Amy Winehouse and Susan Boyle among its former patients, started out in 1872 as a psychiatric hospital in Roehampton.
Since the 1980s it has proliferated into a network of clinics, treating a broad sweep of mental health issues ranging from depression to eating disorders and sleep deprivation.
Late last year, Antonió Horta-Osório, chief executive of Lloyds banking group, checked into the care facility after he spent three days without sleep and took a leave of medical absence.
The BBC has spent nearly £19,000 of public money on treating staff 'stressed' from the pressures of cost cutting and failed initiatives.
It is best known as a rehabilitation centre for drug-addicted celebrities, but The Priory has also gained a following among “stressed” staff at the BBC.
The corporation has spent nearly £19,000 of licence fee payers’ money on treating staff at the exclusive clinic over the last two years, it can be revealed.
The BBC would not reveal whether executives were referred to the centre for mental health issues or for drug addiction, but confirmed it had spent £18,949 on treatments in 2010 and 2011 because there was a “compelling” business reason to do so.
“While the BBC does not normally pay for private medical treatment, we may do so in exceptional circumstances if there is a compelling business reason to do so,” it said in documents revealed under the Freedom of Information Act.
However, it is understood that the corporation agreed to spend licence fee payers’ money on the care centre because its staff were “severely stressed” because of a series of initiatives which had not gone according to plan, and the pressures of cost cutting.
Among the faltering projects was an £80m initiative to do-away with video tapes and record all of the BBC’s footage on digital media instead. The Digital Media Initiative (DMI) floundered so badly that it was dubbed “Don’t Mention It” and Siemens, which was providing the infrastructure, was ditched from the overhaul project.
A senior insider said staff were also “at their wits’ end” because of the BBC’s cost cutting plan, Delivering Quality First, which will see it trim its budget by a fifth by April 2017, leading to around 2,000 job losses.
Another trigger is the corporation’s Nations and Regions project, which aims to move 50pc of all production outside London by 2016, often by relocating staff and placing great strain on their families.
However, the decision to send staff to such an expensive clinic has angered pressure groups.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “It is staggering that the BBC has spent such a huge sum of licence-fee payers' money sending employees to this exclusive clinic.
“Employers should take reasonable steps to look after their staff and should be sensitive to those struggling with mental health problems or addiction, but that doesn't need to extend to an expensive stay at the Priory.
“Most BBC viewers can't afford to convalesce at this kind of retreat. The NHS is good enough for licence-fee payers, so it should be good enough for BBC staff too."
The BBC’s bill with The Priory could be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the BBC’s bill for treating staff at private clinics.
It declined to respond to another request made under the Freedom of Information Act for the corporation’s total spend on mental health care, on the grounds that it would be too expensive to gather the information from a broad range of care institutions.
The Priory, which counts Kate Moss and singers Amy Winehouse and Susan Boyle among its former patients, started out in 1872 as a psychiatric hospital in Roehampton.
Since the 1980s it has proliferated into a network of clinics, treating a broad sweep of mental health issues ranging from depression to eating disorders and sleep deprivation.
Late last year, Antonió Horta-Osório, chief executive of Lloyds banking group, checked into the care facility after he spent three days without sleep and took a leave of medical absence.