Following Dr Ranj Singh’s criticism of ‘toxic’ This Morning last week, ITV believes it has a ‘strong duty of care’ to anybody raising concerns about the network.
The doctor and TV personality formerly worked on the ITV daytime show, where she appeared on a regular basis for over a decade before leaving.
In the aftermath of Phillip Schofield‘s resignation from the show – and later from ITV as a whole after admitting to lying about an affair with a younger male colleague – Dr Ranj released an online statement criticising what he called a ‘toxic’ environment.
Singh described the poisonous atmosphere behind the cameras in a long statement, saying he had approached ITV managers with his concerns before he found himself being ‘used less and less’ on the programme and was’managed out.’
ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall has now sent a letter revealing that the network has engaged a solicitor to conduct an external investigation into the circumstances surrounding Schofield’s resignation.
She also addressed Dr. Ranj’s assertions in the lengthy message, saying the network was’sorry’ to read his comments.
She emphasised, however, that in response to his complaint at the time, “we appointed an external and independent advisor to carry out a review.” ‘There was no indication of bullying or prejudice discovered throughout this external evaluation.’
She added that ITV is ‘committed to providing every opportunity for anyone who works with us to raise any concern or comments they may have.’
‘I want to reassure you that as a producer and broadcaster, ITV takes its responsibilities around duty of care and speaking up seriously and has robust and well-established processes in place which allow anyone who works with us to raise concerns they may have anonymously.
‘The confidential reporting number and other ways of raising concerns are promoted via a number of channels, which includes ITV’s internal staff website, across ITV buildings and how to speak up is part of ITV’s code of ethics & conduct annual mandatory training for all staff.’
Dr. Ranj said he was’managed out’ of raising concerns about the ‘toxicity’ with senior staff members.
Saying he was unaware of the truth behind Schofield’s behaviour, he claimed ‘the issues with This Morning go far beyond him. It takes more than one person to create a culture’.
He added: ‘There are some good people in TV, but we need to be brave and stand up to those who aren’t. Even if it’s scary as hell, we have to do the right thing otherwise nothing will change. I sincerely hope something good comes from all this.’
Schofield responded to Dr Ranj’s remark with his own letter on Instagram, claiming that “the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show seem to have the loudest voice.”
‘This Morning IS the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity. You can listen to those persistently loud voices if you like.’
Approached at the time, the network responded: ‘‘We are sorry to read Dr Ranj’s post today. At ITV we are fully committed to providing every opportunity for anyone who works with us to raise any concern or comments they may have.
‘Following a complaint made by Dr Ranj, we appointed an external and independent advisor to carry out a review. This external review found no evidence of bullying or discrimination.