An inaccurate tribunal report in a daily newspaper about an NHS Trust led to a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission.

Julie Moore, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, complained that the Birmingham Mail had published inaccurate and misleading information in its coverage of on-going employment tribunal proceedings brought against the Trust by a former employee.

In its complaint to the press watchdog the Trust was raised concerns that the newspaper had not sent a reporter to cover the tribunal proceedings on the day that it began to give its evidence, therefore its response to the allegations had not been adequately reported.

In response the newspaper said that it had always intended to report the Trust’s evidence but had not done so on the first day because of a misunderstanding.

In the course of the complaint, the proceedings recommenced and the complainant was satisfied with the newspaper’s continuing coverage.

The matter was resolved on this basis, along with the publication of the following correction that was printed in the Mail:

“We reported (March 17) that University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust “has been shamed for having the worst rates of MRSA in the country.

“To clarify, the rates referred to were for 2004/05 when 152 cases were recorded; in 2010/11 its MRSA rates had improved to joint 19th worst (out of 167) among UK Trusts, with 11 cases recorded.”