Is There a Growing Anti-Christian Militancy in the NHS?

“Offensive hospital Bibles may be banned” was the headline of an article in the Daily Telegraph.i It has been a tradition for many years for hospitals to place Bible’s in the bedside lockers of patients. Yet Senior Executives at the University of Leicester NHS Trust considered removing them from their hospitals. The two reasons given were that they might offend ethnic minority groups and they were concerned that they might aid the spread of MRSA. A spokesman for the hospital refused to say who had suggested the ban but said there had been no complaints from patients. Local leaders of other faiths are outraged at the suggestion. Suleman Nagdi, of Leicestershire’s Federation of Muslim Organisations, said,

“This is a Chrsitian country and it would be sad to see the tradition end.”

Resham Singh Sandu, the Sikh chairman of the Council of Faiths, said,

“I don’t think many ethnic minority patients would object to the Bible in the locker.”

The Anglican Diocese of Leicester spokesman said,

“There is a long tradition of Bibles being readily available for those who are in need of spiritual as well as physical help. People need this consolation at hospital. For example they may need to reach for a Bible in the middle of the night for comfort and solace. What right does the Trust have to do this when Gideons have been putting Bibles in hospitals and other institutions for more than 100 years?”

The theory that they might cause MRSA infections is absurd. The Gideon’s commissioned a surgeon and bacteriologist to carry out a study on this idea as soon a this proposal became known. Ian Mair, an Executive Director of Gideon’s International summarised their findings.

“Doctors told us that to claim an MRSA risk is nonsense – and it is ridiculous to think having Bibles in lockers discriminates against other religions.”

Mr Mair concluded,

“The proposal is completely outrageous and the reasons put forward for justifying it, we believe, are totally without foundation.”

Another very real but probably related concern is the number of committed Christian doctors and nurses who are being reported to various governing authorities. Are Christians really worse practitioners than others or could there be other motives behind these accusations? Investigations of many of these cases fail to show any serious malpractice but the harm has been done. The rumours that follow and a so-called ‘neutral’ suspension whilst the investigation is undertaken does the damage. The process is reminiscent of the medieval ‘ducking’ test for witchcraft. Heads they win, tails you loose. The accuser wins whatever his motive. The grounds of complaint can be anything. All the complainant has to say is, ‘I thought there might be a problem” and in today’s climate there is no comeback against them, whatever their motives. The authorities have to investigate, just in case, as not to do so would make them liable if anything were found to be wrong.

Urgent research is needed to determine if committed Christians are more subject to complaints than those belonging to other faiths or those Christians who do not talk about their commitment to Christ, and the possible reasons for this. This is not just a problem for doctors and nurses, it is an increasing problem in our society – ostensibly a Christian society.

i Nick Britten, Daily Telegraph, Friday June 3, 2005 p8