A surgeon at a London NHS hospital wore a Palestinian badge while operating on a Jewish patient.
The patient, who had an operation at the Royal Free Hospital in Belsize Park, north London, last month, was left “extremely distressed” after spotting the badge on the member of staff’s lanyard.
She said she “found it extremely stressful to be treated by this doctor, given her blatant political views” and that “she felt the doctor could do her some harm”.
Earlier this year, Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said he would ban NHS staff from displaying pro-Palestinian badges as part of a crackdown on anti-Semitism in the health service.
In a letter to the Board of Deputies of British Jews in May, Mr Streeting vowed to snuff out “the appalling experiences of anti-Semitism affecting Jewish staff and patients” in the NHS.
UK Lawyers for Israel, which the patient contacted after the operation, accused the Royal Free London NHS Trust of breaching equality legislation.
In a letter to trust bosses, the group said staff wearing the Palestinian flag badge could constitute harassment by the hospital, breaching Section 29 (3) of the Equality Act 2010, since it may create “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” for Jewish patients.
The lawyers’ group said the display of the badge “indicates support for the Palestinian cause, and conversely, opposition to the State of Israel”. It said the surgeon, who has not been named, was “prioritising her own political opinions over care and empathy for her patients”, which breached General Medical Council regulations.
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Author: Ruth King
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