King’s College hospital is to lodge a complaint with the press watchdog over a journalist allegedly impersonating a relative of a victim of the Grenfell Tower fire in order to get an interview with him.
The hospital is to file a complaint with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) about the behaviour of the Sun reporter. It has also written to News UK, the publisher of the Sun, Times and Sunday Times, about the incident.
"Following an incident at King's College hospital, we have formally written to the Sun and will be informing the Independent Press Standards Organisation," said a spokeswoman for King's College hospital NHS foundation trust. "We are unable to comment on the specifics until our complaint has been investigated."
It is understood that the Sun was trying to get an interview with Mario Gomes, a resident on the 21st floor who has been hailed as a hero after racing back into the building to find his 12-year-old daughter.
Sources say a Sun journalist has been accused of attempting to impersonate a relative of Gomes to hospital staff in order to interview him.
News UK claims a Sun journalist had lined up an interview with Gomes via mobile phone message, after being given his number by someone at Grenfell Tower who knew him.
However, a different Sun journalist made the approach to staff at the hospital for the interview which Gomes then declined because the reporter allegedly claimed to be a relative. News UK denies the reporter attempted to impersonate a relative.
Ipso has not not yet received an official complaint relating to journalists impersonating the relatives of victims to gain access to any hospital.
Such a complaint would be investigated under clause 8 of the editors’ code, relating specifically to hospitals, which has two rules. It states: “Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue inquiries. The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to inquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.”
King’s College was one of six London hospitals to receive more than 70 victims of the fire and continues to care for some of those injured.
A spokesman for the newspaper said: "The Sun wants to make it clear that no reporter has 'impersonated' any family members. The Sun was in contact with one of the people injured in the Grenfell fire, who provided a detailed phone interview for the newspaper. We then visited him in hospital to get a further interview and photos.
"On arrival the Sun reporter and photographer made hospital staff aware that they were present and had been in touch with the contact. However, we were informed the contact had changed his mind on the interview and the Sun promptly left the hospital. We completely refute any accusation that our employees acted inappropriately."
– Guardian Service