It begins! Calls for NHS lanyards to be removed because of the Nowak killing

[SocialistMammy]

I suppose this knee-jerk over-the-top reaction was inevitable.

There are calls today - including from Kemi Badenoch - for public sector staff, including the NHS! to stop wearing "political" lanyards.

These could be just showing that you're a decent person who opposes genocide, or that your patient is safe with you regardless of your sexuality or gender identity when they are being treated.

And this is all because .. of the murder of Henry Nowak.

So, despite the calls from Nowak's family not to politicise their poor boy's death - that's EXACTLY what the far right are now trying to do. And the NHS has NOTHING to do with that police officer.

Where this is heading looks very ugly - we've got a World Cup starting shortly, and that's going to mean England flags being used to attack minorities. Will footballers have to make statements about diversity being anti white? Probably - it feels like the far right think this is their time now and ANYTHING is up for grabs.

It will be lanyards today, deportations tomorrow. Mark my words.

I think the first line covers your thread more op. You’ve not read why it’s happening.

Should be exactly the same in any tax payer funded enterprise - from road sweepers to MPs and everything in between!

Quite honestly I dont know how we have got this so wrong. What if someone wants to support Farage and Reform? What if they are pro termination or the opposite?? Are they allowed to show those views or is it only certain views?

I really really dont care what their views are especially when they are in uniform.

I am not Jewish but if I saw a surgeon just about to do some surgery on me with a Pro Palestine badge you bet I would be uncomfortable.

Then the radio is wrong, And there's no such station as BBC Radio is there?

I think the op is so indoctrinated by identity politics she forgets how divisive and damaging they actually are. All public services should abide by the law, public sector duty, industry standards and the Nolan principles. We don’t need badges and lanyards like it’s TGI Fridays.

I'm a retired A&E consultant. A ban on NHS workers wearing any non-work badge cannot happen soon enough for me. All I ever wore at work was my name badge. I always regarded it as extremely inappropriate to wear any political symbols including rainbow lanyards.

Will it include poppies?

I always think that people need to keep their personal politics out of their job.

Even if I agree with some of the causes supported, I don't want to see them displayed on doctors, nurses, any public service employee.

I am interested only in being treated with respect and have my concerns listened when I am in a hospital or dealing with any public services I don't need any virtue signalling through badges or lanyard.

Maybe it is and obviously it shouldn't be. However, the workplace isn't the place for your personal opinions of any variety (including Pride).

Poppies should be included in the ban. The rule should be unequivocal & simply be no badges or symbols that were not supplied by your employer.

It's literally calling for the NHS to be DEPOLITICISED.

No Israel badges, now LGBTQIA++ lanyards, no socialist worked badges - nothing

Good.

How is showing you oppose genocide going to help old Bill laid in his hospital bed getting his obs done?! Get the bloody political lanyards off. No need for it. You’re paid to do a job. Nothing more.

I'd disagree on the same basis I'd disagree about banning Union Jack badges etc.

So you would be happy with a nurse or paramedic wearing a Reform T-Shirt or Number 10 Farage football top under their scrubs so you could see it?

Good!

I blame the "bring your whole self to work" philosophy.

Don't.

Bring your professional self to work.
Save your 'whole self' for friends and family.

I don't care what you think about any particular issue; in fact I actively don't want to know. I want you to carry out the professional role for which you are employed competently, politely and neutrally and that is all.

Ditch the lanyards and virtue-signalling baubles.

This ☝️

what organisations make lanyards for pro palastine?

Lots, apparently. They do not need to be worn in the workplace, nor when representing said workplace/organisation.

My pre-op (for cancer) admissions nurse was wearing a Palestinian flag. When I completed my info form I left the religion section blank. I am Jewish.

I can't really get my head around the fact that OP thinks that a medical professional needs a special lanyard or badge to prove that they are a decent person or safe to treat gay or trans patients. Does this mean that anyone that doesn't wear the right type of performative lanyard is unsafe or a terrible person? Not to mention that virtually every political stance is divisive these days so why even bring this into a setting where someone's political stance should have absolutely no relation to the way they treat others? If they it did then they quite frankly shouldn't be in the job.

Decades ago when I first started working in a professional environment the rule was simple ‘no religion, no politics’ they were not considered appropriate workplace topics for conversation, too inflammatory and not relevant to the workplace.

Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and their opinions, we have a responsibility to express them respectfully, in an appropriate manner, at an appropriate time and in an appropriate setting. For the vast majority of us (ie not politicians) this means that there is no need to express our political or religious beliefs at work.

And yes, this means poppies and rainbow lanyards too. Put it on your coat and where it to and from work, but it shouldn’t be part of your uniform. Religious symbols should be discrete and worn so they can be hidden beneath your uniform like a small crucifix necklace.

I agee, but what is an "Israel badge"? A badge showing the country's flag? Is that honestly something you might see in an NHS hospital?

I am astonished it is allowed at all. It so obviously causes problems. When faced with lanyards depicting the Palestinian flag, England flag, pride flag, pro life, Reform, Green, how would you pick and choose which of these lanyards were ok? They all just up the ante.

I agree!

All civil servants have to agree to the civil service code which includes no outward displays of political beliefs or affiliations, the NHS as another large public sector employer shouldn't be any different