- By Abhishek Sheoran
- Mon, 02 Oct 2023 10:46 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A shocking incident of systemic racism has been reported from the UK where nurses tied a Sikh patient's beard with plastic gloves and left him in his own urine, news agency PTI reported. In a dossier leaked to The Independent from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), these nurses kept on working despite the discrimination complaint of the Sikh man in a note on his deathbed.
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The report stated the UK nurse regulatory body failed to address “institutional racism” in its ranks for 15 years, which has allowed NMC staff “to go unchecked” when “applying guidance inconsistently based on their own discriminatory views”.
The Sikh man’s family found his turban removed and his beard tied up with rubber gloves, The Independent reported. The case which was closed by the NMC’s team is now being reassessed.
The note in the Punjabi language claimed the nurses used to laugh at him besides keeping him hungry. It says he was offered the food which they knew he would not eat due to religious reasons. They would not comply when he wanted to relieve himself, causing him to wet himself and fall in his own urine.
The first case of racism within the NMC was raised in 2008. The documents reveal how Black and ethnic minority staff fear they will be exposed if they speak up about racism.
Of late, NMC took note of the matter and launched a probe. “I’m so sorry that anyone has personally suffered or observed racism at the NMC. I want the NMC to be an anti-racist organisation and it’s clear we’ve got a long way to go to achieve that," The Independent quoted Andrea Sutcliffe, chief executive and registrar of the NMC, as saying.
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“I know we don’t get it right every time and we must learn when we make mistakes. It’s imperative we now investigate all of the concerns raised with us and we are in the process of appointing external, independent experts to lead those investigations with care, with rigour and with full transparency,” Sutcliffe added, quoted by the publication.
