In response to "And I thought we were working towards building a nursing
force that provided culturally appropriate and sensitive care!", I think we
are, but this cleaves more than one way.
The guardian article seems not to mention that the chaperone requirement was
for 'Muslim' women (only?). Meanwhile, The Sun article appears to collude
'Muslim' with 'Asian'.
I think in this particular case it is still helpful to go back to the fact
that patients have the choice to be examined by a person of the same 'sex'.
This would cover the Guardian's version of events, and would also move
beyond The Sun's (culturally biased) assumptions that Muslim/Asia (which is
it I wonder?) patients would not need the choice - because of an inaccurate
idea that Muslim/Asian women cannot be treated by men. In my opinion,
allowing choice, in this case, is neither culturally inappropriate, nor is
it insensitive.
zohra
---------------------------------------------
zohra moosa
Policy Officer - Race & Gender
Fawcett Society
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-----Original Message-----
From: Health of minority ethnic communities in the UK
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bennetts Penny
(5GX) StAlbansHarp-PCT
Sent: 14 June 2006 13:03
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Male nurse wins court ruling...
I have copied from the Guardian report below. Last two paragraphs of
particular interest.
Regards
Penny Bennetts
Cross Cultural Services Advisor
West Herts NHS Interpreting and Access Service
01727 732252
Saturday June 10, 2006
The Guardian
A former student male nurse yesterday won a landmark sex discrimination case
against NHS hospitals that refused to let him perform intimate medical
procedures on women patients unless he was accompanied by a female
chaperone.
The Equal Opportunities Commission said the ruling challenged assumptions
that all men are sexual predators. It would help to open up nursing for men,
who make up only 10% of the workforce.
The case was brought at the employment appeals tribunal in London by Andrew
Moyhing, 29, who said he abandoned nursing because he was not allowed to do
the job properly in a female-dominated profession.
During training last year at NHS hospitals and health centres in London he
was denied the opportunity to provide cervical smears or electrocardiogram
tests that might expose a patient's breasts unless he was chaperoned by a
female colleague. He complained that female staff were allowed to provide
intimate care to male patients with no chaperone present.
Mr Moyhing did not object to complying with the wishes of a woman patient
who asked to be treated by a female nurse. But the patients were not given
that choice. "This was offensive to me as a man, made me feel inferior."
Mr Moyhing's claims of sex discrimination had been rejected at an employment
tribunal, which ruled that chaperoning was acceptable as a safeguard. But
yesterday Mr Justice Patrick Elias decided on appeal that the chaperoning
policy was unlawful. He asked Barts and the London NHS trust, where the
former student was based, to pay £750 compensation. Mr Moyhing, who now
sells financial services, declined the award to avoid diverting resources
from the NHS.
Jenny Watson, who chairs the EOC, said sex discrimination was wrong whether
it was directed at women or men. "The tribunal was right to find that it was
not acceptable to have a chaperoning policy based on lazy stereotyping about
the risks to patients and assumptions that all men are sexual predators,"
she said.
Mr Moyhing said: "I hope that this decision will herald the beginning of an
era when nursing draws on all the skills of both male and female students.
Male nurses are still seen as a bit of an oddity."
The Royal College of Nursing said NHS guidelines suggest all patients should
have the choice of being treated by a nurse of the same sex. There was no
monitoring of the chaperoning policy, but it was clear that male nurses
suffered from a stereotype attitude that men could not care for patients in
the same way women did.
Barts and the London NHS Trust said that by awarding Mr Moyhing the minimum
level compensation of £750 the tribunal accepted the trust's view that he
"displayed an exaggerated and unduly sensitive reaction to being
chaperoned".
-----Original Message-----
From: Health of minority ethnic communities in the UK
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Rena
Papadopoulos
Sent: 14 June 2006 08:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Male nurse wins court ruling...
Now here's something I must share with you! (as reported by the Sun
newspaper).
A male student nurse in England won a 'landmark' ruling on Friday
against his employer (Barts and London NHS Trust) who banned him from
examining female Muslim patients without a chaperone. A judge ruled that
it was unfair for him to be excluded from performing intimate procedures
on women simply because they could have been offended by his sex. The
student (who is now a qualified nurse but works as a financial services
salesman) was apparently made to fell 'untrustworthy' after being
refused permission to carry out an ECG on an Asian woman; he was also
asked to leave the room when another patient was having a cervical
smear. He stated after the court ruling that 'finally male nurses have
the right to be treated equally with others in the profession'. Wendy
Irwin, head of diversity and equality at the Royal College of Nursing
said that the ruling was likely to have a huge impact on hospitals and
staff in the health service. She added that the decision marks a
watershed, it sends a clear message to employers that trainee nurses
qualify to do their jobs regardless of their sex and by discriminating
against men they are frustrating talent which is not good for staff or
patients.
And I thought we were working towards building a nursing force that
provided culturally appropriate and sensitive care! I am also wondering
as to what the Nursing and Midwifery Council has to say about this. Any
comment? And what about you? Where does this leave transcultural health
and nursing?
Regards
Rena.
Professor (I)Rena Papadopoulos,
Head of Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health,
Chair, School Ethics Committee,
Editor-in-Chief Journal of Health, Social and Environmental Issues,
Programme Leader, MSc in European Nursing,
School of Health and Social Sciences, Middlesex University,
10 Highgate Hill, London N19 5LW,
Tel: 02084116626 Fax: 02084116106
Why not visit our centre website on:
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/rctsh/
WHY NOT ENROL ON OUR NEW AND INNOVATIVE WEB-BASED (PARTLY) MASTERS IN
EUROPEAN NURSING. GO TO
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/rctsh/eu_masters_in_nursing.htm
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