A lot of comments about this case seem to be based on the Sun version of events which I think has led to a number of assumptions and possibly false conclusions.  If the Guardian's version is taken as more accurate, then the issue has got nothing to do with choice.  Indeed, the Guardian article refers to the patient NOT being given a choice and the male nurse explicitly having no difficulty with respecting patient choice about the gender of their carer. Nor does the arrangement for chaperoning male nurses with female patients do anything to meet a female patient's choice of a female carer!  The issue seems to me to be much more about the assumptions behind the need to provide a chaperone and in that context I have no difficulty with the judgment or with the EOC's comments, as quoted in the Guardian.  I could be guilty, of course, of making assumptions based on the Guardian's selective version of events but I can't see any basis for assuming there is a conflict between this ruling and provision of culturally appropriate services or meeting patient choice.  Is there something I have missed?

Brian Colman
Equality and Diversity Manager
Westminster Primary Care Trust
15 Marylebone Road
London
NW1 5JD
tel: 020 7150 8131
fax: 020 7150 8105
email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
website: www.westminster-pct.nhs.uk <http://www.westminster-pct.nhs.uk> 
 
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Health of minority ethnic communities in the UK
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Mikey
Sent: 14 June 2006 14:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Male nurse wins court ruling...


I think this ruling gives a confused and mixed message on the current
thinking of providing culturally (which in this case covers the gender
issue) appropriate and relevant services. Far from me to interpret the law
better than a judge! But if applying a policy that results in unfair
treatment to particular groups, in this case Male nurses, can be justified
on good the grounds, then it is lawful and acceptable. If I understand it
correctly.  The principles underpinning the trust's policy on cultural
appropriate services, respect and ... patient choice (you would have
thought)  would justify this policy, particularly as appropriate steps had
been taken to mitigate any unfair treatment (the chaperone policy).  

I think it sends a message about the uncomfortable position that the
'culturally appropriate service' hypothesis always has occupied, not least
in the context of current world events.

Moyhing's position on being denied opportunity to practice is craft and
develop his experience and expertise is weak, as he was allowed to do so
with a chaperone.  What was his view then on respecting patients views and
wishes? Which I might add  which were not unreasonable and certainly in an
entirely different league from the case cited by Stephen James about the
patient refusing treatment and care on account of the nurses skin
colour/ethnicity.

Is this the down trodden, discriminated against male, backlash or racism or
just the cracks appearing in our anti-discriminatory legislation and
policies?

Mike Silvera
SILKAP Consultants
5 Brockenhurst Road
Ramsgate 
Kent CT11 8ED
01843 599 424
07949 168921
www.silkapconsultants.co.uk
 

-----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
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