Holby City (series 1) "Holby City" was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin–off from the long–running BBC medical drama "Casualty". Young wanted to explore what happened to patients treated in "Casualty" once they were taken away to the hospital's surgical wards. While "Casualty" scope is limited to "accident of the week" storylines about patients entering hospital, "Holby City" allowed the possibility of storylines about long–term care, rather than immediate life and death decisions. Although both shows are set in the same hospital, the "Casualty" set in Bristol was not large enough to encompass the surgical ward and operating theatre required
Holby City describing real nursing work in contrast as "very post-watershed". In November 2009, Antony Sumara, CEO of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Hospital Trust, wrote a column criticising "Holby City" for misrepresenting real hospital life. Tom Sutcliffe of "The Independent" reviewed a December 2009 episode poorly, finding it "astonishing" that any patients leave Holby General alive, as the staff are "so busy looking stricken or lovelorn at each other". In December 2003, "The Times" Libby Purves wrote a critical opinion piece, observing that "Holby City" medical staff are often depicted getting drunk in clubs, but afterwards are able to function properly