Should Nhs Healthcare Staff Undergo Cultural Training?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/11252640._Give_NHS_staff_religious_and_cultural_training__says_surgeon/

Well Aiman Alzetani, a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, thinks so.

/// Practices such as washing before and after meals, shaking hands with members of the opposite sex and male relatives seeing female Islamic patients without a hijab on were just some of the instances cited by Mr Alzetani. ///

Perhaps before going into religious sensitivities, we should make sure that the basic human requirements are addressed first, I am referring to recent cases of elderly patients being forced to lie in their own urine and excretions.

[emmie]

washing hands should be a given at every turn, most doctors that i have come across don't do it, nor the nurses, or cleaners for that matter

[ToraToraTora]

what a load of pony, it's a hospital, religion should not come into it.

[emmie]

don't you think that the staff have enough to contend with to remember to serve Muslims with one hand not the other, fer goodness sake.
you are lucky to be in hospital, if they care for you, take your pulse, temperature, look after you, put food on the table, and water, just as important, not all of those things happen, basics should be got right, not cultural sensitivities that many may have, not just Muslims.

[sp1814]

Seems pretty sensible.

Trying to put myself in the shoes of clincal staff - I would want to give the best service I could and having a little reference guide would help with that.

[emmie]

has anyone been in hospital lately, they hardly remember you are there, let alone have your cultural interests at heart.

[mccfluff]

ive recently been in for tests and scans, now waiting an op and everyone has been lovely.

a pocket guide seems quite sensible. i do hope whoever does the op washes their hands first :-/

i might insist they let me take a portable altar to Bacchus in with me....

[emmie]

i don't think this is just about washing of hands, if you read the whole thing, more on cultural sensitivities, which i am pretty sure already happens, if you are of a faith and require certain foods, you won't be given something that you object to. However there is much to be said for letting the nurses and doctors get on with their work, bad enough being in one i must say.

[ladybirder]

I agree that if you find yourself in hospital needing treatment you are now in the hands of science, so time to forget all that religious nonsense.

[emmie]

most people are grateful for help surely, i know i was, however ungrateful i might have seemed, pain can do that to you, especially after abdominal surgery, and coming to on the ward, the nurse got my legs and swung them off the bed, she said something but i almost clouted her, the pain was indescribable. she said it was for my own benefit, yeah right.

[mccfluff]

if you are religious, i don't think you can just "forget than nonsense" because you are in hospital & i would of thought in times of stress and worry religious people would be calling on their gods for help - more so than in normal times

i can't see a problem in being "aware" of various religious practices as long as they don;t interfere with the medical care being given

[ladybirder]

Nothing to stop them having their vicar, priest, imam or whoever visiting them in hospital just as long as they wash their hands when they do.

[emmie]

i found the priest who padded around our wards, condescending in the extreme, you didn't have to talk to him, however some did, listening to him intone on the almighty, and the hereafter wasn't a good thing when lying desperately ill

[237SJ]

Cultural training isn`t necessarily about religion. It`s about being aware of what offends people of some cultures (ie serving Arabs etc with the left hand). I don`t see anything wrong with that. I did it 20+ years ago so it has only taken the NHS a quarter of a century to catch up!

[emmie]

you are lucky to get fed, let alone remember which person, hand is delivering the meals. Caterers do it not nursing staff as far as i remember.

[youngmafbog]

When in Rome ....

If the British culture offends you then go somewhere your culture is accommodated.

We spend enough time and money in the NHS on things not related to health and it is resulting in basic care failing. The alternative for these people is to pay privately to suit their wants. but of course they want me to pay for it.

Wrong, very wrong.

[naomi24]

No. The NHS is under a heavy enough financial burden without pussyfooting to religious foibles. If people are ill, the NHS is there to do its best to fix them - that's all.

[lcg]

as a nurse in southampton......no!!! we have enough crap on our plate without adding in all this malarky. i know that doctors have enough time to swan and fart about, but we nurses do not. this is the uk and as such, we should follow OUR customs and etiquette, not everyone else's. no wonder people end up lying in their own pee (not on my shifts, mind - i am capable of organising that *** up in the brewery!)......

[Mamyalynne]

All I ask after of course good clinical care, is a Doctor/Nurse I can understand and who understands me (I have struggled in the past in that regard), my cultural needs myself and my family will take care of.

[whirlyhurly]

I also read of a muslim patient demanding that his bed be moved around so that it faced Mecca, and he could say his prayers etc.

[whiskeryron]

With the items in the news lately about Muslims wanting to take over some schools. Maybe they should have their own Hospitals ( built with Arab cash of course).