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| Britain |
| Nurses told to turn Catholic patients' beds to face Rome |
| 2007-12-04 |
| You know the drill. OVERWORKED nurses have been ordered to stop all medical work five times every day to move Muslim patients’ beds so they face towards Mecca. The lengthy procedure, which also includes providing fresh bathing water, is creating turmoil among overstretched staff on bustling NHS wards. But despite the havoc, Mid- Yorkshire NHS Trust says the rule must be instigated whenever possible to ensure Muslim patients have “a more comfortable stay in hospital”. And a taxpayer-funded training programme for several hundred hospital staff has begun to ensure that all are familiar with the workings of the Muslim faith. The scheme is initially being run at Dewsbury and District Hospital, West Yorkshire, but is set to be introduced at other hospitals in the new year. It comes on the back of the introduction in some NHS hospitals last year of Burka-style gowns for Muslim patients who did not wish medical staff to see their face while operating or caring for them. Last night critics slammed the procedure and claimed the NHS would be better off investing its resources in tackling killer superbugs such as C.diff and MRSA. One experienced nurse working at Dewsbury said: “It would be easier to create Muslim-only wards with every bed facing Mecca than have to deal with this." That would take all the fun out of watching the dhimmis scurry. “Some people might think it is not that big a deal, but we have a huge Muslim population in Dewsbury and if we are having to turn dozens of beds to face Mecca five times a day, plus provide running water for them to wash before and after prayers, it is bound to impact on the essential medical service we are supposed to be providing. Although the beds are designed to be moved, the bays are not really suitable for having loads of beds moved around to face a different direction, and despite our best efforts it does cause disruption for non-Muslim patients.” The changes have been instigated by Dewsbury and District Hospital’s chief matron, Catherine Briggs, after she held a series of consultation meetings with local Asian GPs, ethnic minority patients groups and Muslim chaplain Ilyas Dalal to find out what staff could do to further improve Muslim patients’ experience of the NHS. In accordance with the rules of Islam, Muslims are required to pray five times a day. The religion dictates they must wash themselves in running water prior to prayer and must be facing in the direction of Mecca while praying. Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is revered as the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed, who was born around 570AD. Turning beds so they face towards Mecca was a key proposal put forward during the hospital meetings, along with suggestions that Muslim women should only be seen by female doctors. Although the Trust, which also oversees hospitals in Wakefield and Pontefract, could not guarantee women-only doctors, they agreed that “wherever possible” specific patient requests would be carried out. Mrs Briggs said: “Some of our former Muslim patients suggested that a more informed understanding of the Islamic cultures would help staff to further improve their service.” Last night Conservative MP David Davies said: “Hospitals should be concentrating on stopping the spread of infections than kow-towing to the politically correct brigade. If the need for fresh running water is so great then perhaps family members could be on hand to assist the already overworked medical staff.” |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #25 Close circut to all muslims...the planet is round. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-12-04 19:55 |
| #24 Doc, great pic, thanks |
| Posted by: Jan 2007-12-04 15:37 |
| #23 This is the original press release. 28 November 2007 Nurses and other staff at Dewsbury and District Hospital are taking part in a training course to develop their cultural understanding as part of The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s continued commitment to meet the privacy and dignity needs of all their patients. The training has been introduced after Catherine Briggs, hospital matron at Dewsbury and District Hospital, met with members of the black and ethnic minority community including patients, local groups and a local GP to find out what staff can do to further improve patients’ experience. Matron Briggs said: “I was very pleased to hear that many of our past patients said that overall they were very happy with the care provided to them at our hospital. Some of our former Muslim patients also suggested that a more informed understanding of the Islamic cultures would help staff to further improve their service. “In response to these comments I have been working with Moulana Ilyas Dalal, our senior Muslim chaplain at the hospital to develop a training package that will better inform staff of the different cultural and religious needs of patients.“ Matron Briggs added: “We are committed to providing the highest possible standards of care to every one of our patients and we know that Dewsbury and District Hospital treats a high number of patients from the Muslim community. We always do our best to listen to our patients and are willing to adapt our nursing practices where possible to help patients uphold their cultural beliefs. I’m sure that after this training our staff will have a greater understanding of different cultures and will be in a better position to do this.” The Trust has already made changes to better meet the needs of their Muslim patients and during the training sessions Moulana Ilyas spoke to hospital staff about how they can make small changes to help patients uphold the Islamic faith. Changes that the hospital has already made for their Muslim patients include: Positioning the beds of very ill Muslim patients to face Mecca if requested by the patient Providing shower facilities for patients, as well as bathing facilities Providing halal meal options for patients. Beverley Brook from ward 6 at Dewsbury and District Hospital was one of the first members of staff to enrol on the training course. Beverley said: “I found the training session really useful. Although I already knew quite a lot about the Islamic faith, this gave me a greater understanding on how we can make small changes on a daily basis that will really make a difference to our Muslim patients. I’ll be taking everything that I learnt back to my colleagues on the ward. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-12-04 12:30 |
| #22 In response to the shitstorm this has stirred up, from the Mid- Yorkshire NHS Trust website... Media coverage - 4 December 2007 A number of media have today ran an entirely inaccurate story claiming that we have ordered staff to move Muslim patients’ beds to face towards Mecca. This has stemmed from the above press release. We wanted to make sure that you understand the correct position and this story is completely untrue. Tracey McErlain-Burns, our chief nurse and director of patient experience, said: “Our statement has been wrongly interpreted. The Muslim Moulana at Dewsbury and District Hospital is holding internal workshops for nurses to help develop their cultural understanding. Nurses are not being removed from their duties to move patients’ beds towards Mecca. Moving patients’ beds for prayer five times a day has not been suggested as part of this workshop and staff have not been ordered to do this. “In the context of responding to requests from patients and families, particularly when faced with a very ill patient, it is entirely reasonable that nurses consider all practical steps to meet a patient’s cultural or religious needs. This may include adjusting the position of the bed, or escorting the patient to the chapel or faith centre.” |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-12-04 12:24 |
| #21 OVERWORKED nurses have been ordered to stop all medical work five times every day to move Muslim patientsÂ’ beds so they face towards Mecca. The lengthy procedure, which also includes providing fresh bathing water, is creating turmoil among overstretched staff on bustling NHS wards. That has to be the funniest thing I've read in years. What a perfect Monty Python skit it would make. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-12-04 12:03 |
| #20 How about we just lie to 'em about which direction they're facing? It's not like Allan actually gives a shit. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-12-04 11:12 |
| #19 Just put the beds on turntables and have them constantly spinning. Perhaps have some clown music on in the background. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2007-12-04 10:41 |
| #18 The Brits ought to build Islam-compliant hospital ships. They can circle off-shore (in the Red Sea, for instance) and every patient would be facing Mecca at one point or another. That, or put the hospital beds on big "lazy Susans". |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-12-04 09:46 |
| #17 As a pastafarian I expect the nurses to carry out their sacred obligations to wednesdays blow-job day. They don't want to offend my values do they? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-12-04 09:20 |
| #16 Are the nurses organized in the UK. I mean, do they belong to a labor union? Seems to me the hospitals requiring the nurses to turn the muslims toward Mecca are putting a large and unreasonable burden on the nurses at the expense of the other patients. Seems to me to be a good issue to strike over. Would get a great deal of sympathy from the average guy on the street. Refuse the order to move the muslim patients. Boycott. Strike. Fight back. Do something! Is this one of the hospitals I read about that took down all the crucifixes that were on the walls so as not to offend patients of a certain religion? I guess that gesture wasn't enough to appease the muslims and to improve their experience of the NHS. Giving the muslims burka-style gowns didn't work to appease them. Next step in the muslim agenda might be to require the infidel nurses to personally perform the ablutions for the muslims before prayer five times each day. Then again, being touched by an infidel might be haram in the case of ablutions before prayer. Not sure. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2007-12-04 09:17 |
| #15 |
| Posted by: doc 2007-12-04 09:03 |
| #14 Time to send in "Nurse Queenie", when he's not busy with Hamza the Hook. Will this "face Mecca" routine apply to dying suicide bombers (as in Glasgow) who don't cark it for a week or so after their bombs go off? |
| Posted by: Mullah Lodabullah 2007-12-04 08:49 |
| #13 National Health Service. Coming soon to a ward near you! Offer the patients a choice - they can be turned to Mecca or they can have medical care. If they need running water for their feet, they can pull out their IVs and use that. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-12-04 08:38 |
| #12 Having clicked the link to verify that this is neither Scrappleface nor The Onion, I have to say that Queen Elizabeth may as well take her crown down to the local mosque right away. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2007-12-04 07:40 |
| #11 If you live in Mecca, which way do you face? Which way do the hospital beds face? I'm not sure, I think they spin around faster and faster, until they start to levitate and then everybody shout allah u akbar and make faces. I think I saw that once on Youtube. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-12-04 07:39 |
| #10 Do they do this in Aghanistan, which is 100% Muslim? How about the Maldives? And how often do they turn the beds in Soddy Arabia? If you live in Mecca, which way do you face? Which way do the hospital beds face? |
| Posted by: Fred 2007-12-04 07:22 |
| #9 Why don't they PAY someone to do this? It's obviously non-clinical. They should also pay extra for halal food. The NHS is a obsurd idea, but this is absurd factorial. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-12-04 05:28 |
| #8 Islamic law exempts the ill and wounded from obligations like prayers or fasting; if you are too weak for turning towards Mecca then you are exempted. Period. In other words for all of Islam's idiocy it is still leagues behind the dhimmyleft's one. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-12-04 05:28 |
| #7 despite our best efforts it does cause disruption for non-Muslim patients.” hmmm, yes let's not mind that this practice disrupts everyone else, but we must give the Muslims special treatment. The Muslims have truly taken over, by saturation of the area. the NHS would be better off investing its resources in tackling killer superbugs such as C.diff and MRSA oh no, this makes too much sense. I'm sorry, but I just came off from working three 16 hour shifts in a row, while it was very busy, and the thought of having to do something so incredibly stupid in my view, while actual medical procedures need to be carried out is outrageous. How can this even be given a serious consideration. Hell, how would one ensure that the direction is correct? Ah yes a little to the left, now back to the right a bit....5 times a day for this crap? I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but this is total crap. Not just the beds but all of the IV's, monitors and other equipment that we have hooked up, is this a real practice in say Iraq? I'm going to bed now. |
| Posted by: Jan 2007-12-04 03:17 |
| #6 Good li'l dhimmis. We only punish you because we care. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-12-04 02:01 |
| #5 why don't they just leave them facing Mecca? Why do they have to keep turning them? |
| Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 2007-12-04 02:00 |
| #4 Good little dhimmis. This sort of thing isn't that necessary, but it's good training, and it establishes necessary precedents for what's to come in the future. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-12-04 01:51 |
| #3 Show me one fucking hospital in ME, even in KSA, that does this. Are Brits out of their effing minds? Are their minds so open that their brains fell out? |
| Posted by: Spike Uniter 2007-12-04 01:45 |
| #2 Let them build and run their own hospital. In the mean time if they want help they can go to the gov one without bed turning... unless they pay extra for it... Of course with socialized medicine can you charge extra? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-12-04 01:13 |
| #1 Mrs Briggs said: “Some of our former Muslim patients suggested that a more informed understanding of the Islamic cultures would help staff to further improve their service.” I suspect they are "understood" very well indeed. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-12-04 00:56 |