AIBU to think refusing treatment from non-white medical professionals should have consequences?

[MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack]

There has apparently been a significant rise in racism towards NHS staff, with a growing number of people refusing to allow non-white NHS staff to treat them. This is sad but not surprising given the shift in society as a whole towards people expressing their racism much more openly.

https://news.sky.com/story/nhs-staff-experiencing-unconscionable-levels-of-racist-abuse-survey-finds-13569575

I have always admired the commitment of NHS staff who treat all patients with care and compassion, even when those patients are rude and abusive. But if people are actually refusing to let certain staff provide treatment, surely there should be consequences for this?

AIBU to think that everyone has the right to refuse treatment if they so wish, but if a patient refuses treatment from a medical professional simply because they don't like the colour of that medical practitioner's skin, then they should then forfeit the right to receive that treatment on the NHS. So they can either go without or find the money to be treated privately by a medical professional of their choice?

There would need to be signs warning people of the consequences of their choices, of course, but if someone doesn't want a Black or Asian radiographer carry out their x-ray, then fine... they just don't get an x-ray.

Ooooh, it hurts when the empire is criticised, huh?

Totally understandable, similar situations can be triggering and it’s fair to say that. What’s disappointing on the thread for me is how many people think one (black or brown) person is a representative for all. They’d never say that about a white person. Otherwise Shipman would have been the end of white GPs!

totally agree . If someone is that injured or unwell they would be happy to see anyone , if they are not then they aren’t that unwell . It saddens me to see all the ‘ be respectful’ notices everywhere .
NHS staff have every right to not be abused . I don’t know why we tolerate such behaviour. If racists , abusers , drunks can’t behave chuck them out . Stop tolerating this and they’ll learn to shut up .

A little imagination would tell you that there are going to be valid reasons, surely?

I know someone who was violently and repeatedly gang raped by men of a certain ethnicity, and way of dressing. That patient can, with some difficulty, tolerate non-intimate examinations from men. Men of certain appearance trigger flash backs- particularly when this patient is in a situation that they cannot easily leave/“escape”. Lying on a bed behind a curtain in a consulting room, would be one example of a situation likely to be a trigger. This patient has had extensive therapy but this is the remaining issue. In practice, they would usually just ask for a female HCP. If one was not available, for some examinations or a verbal face to face consultation, they would probably be able to tolerate a male HCP who was not of that ethnicity.

is that a “valid enough reason”, in your view? It is in mine.

Whilst valid I would suggest this is an absolute minority of people .

I don’t see how that’s a valid reason why being gang-raped by a group of men would have be a valid reason to reject treatment from a woman who shared their skin tone / ethnicity.

The art of minimising is alive and kicking.

But to be clear while avoiding things that trigger trauma or PTSD can be viewed as valid, do you really think most people racially abusing NHS staff and insisting that they only want staff of certain melanin levels are managing past trauma?

I would say a woman who has been gang raped has enough trauma to prevent her from being sensitive to other people's feelings on skin issues. If she's triggered, she's triggered. That's two consecutive posts which have minimised sexual assault. Race doesn't always have to take precedence.

The issue here are men. Not people - men or women - from a certain race/look
As per your story

No but those who are, deserve recognition not to be told they are in a minority. They aren't the problem.

More minimising. Whenever there's an account, not a story, that doesn't fit a narrative, it's twisted into either being made up or so rare that it doesn't figure. Unreal. Grooming gang vibes.

That sounds terrible for that patient, and I think we’d reasonably consider that to be a mental health need that should be met by providing either a woman or a man of a different ethnicity, alongside a chaperone. That’s very obviously different from asking for a white doctor, as if all people from all ethnicities other than white are a danger.

I think people who racially abuse NHS staff are still part of the problem irrespective of their past experiences.

Let’s be clear here.
Im am NOT minimising.
That story, whilst absolutely awful, is not making a point in how some people can have issues with some races.
The story goes
That patient can, with some difficulty, tolerate non-intimate examinations from men. Men of certain appearance trigger flash backs
These are men. Even men who are not from that race are an issue.

This patient has had extensive therapy but this is the remaining issue. In practice, they would usually just ask for a female HCP
But women from that ethnicity are not an issue….

Look. Let’s say that the men who gang raped that woman were all white (more likely as stats shows rapists are with a very large majority white).
And that the woman was not white.
Would you tell the same story about how it’s perfectly understandable that the woman refuses treatment from a white doctor? I very much doubt you’ll hear such story.

fwiw I have been on the receiving end of racism/xenophobia whilst treating patients. That woman scared shitiless after a rape? She isn’t the one telling obscenity and insulting HCP.
The racists will have no issue with insulting HCP, refusing care OR getting the care they need, expect top notch treatment ALL WHILST they are telling you how people from your race/country are awful, insulting your race etc…. And they expect you to stay silent and be nice to boot.

We are talking specifically about sexual trauma being triggered by ethnicity and/or the sex of clinicians. Those who abuse NHS staff for their race are in a different category, for the purpose of the OP. There is a middle ground that's been repeatedly dismissed on here.

Don’t be ridiculous

I'm sorry you had to deal with that. 💐 The weaponisation of false accusations of racism happens an awful lot more often than most people want to admit.

Yes a woman who has had such an awful experience deserves to be supported - and have women treating her.p + chaperone + whatever makes her comfortable (eg the HCP doesn’t sit between her and the door)

Thats what we should be concentrating on. Esp as she doesnt have any issue with the ethnicity of her female HCP

I am talking specifically about racially abusing NHS staff. I do not think past trauma gives you a pass on racially abusing innocent people.

I also think people are trying to “whatabout” the type of stories being referred to in OP by using edge cases. But OP has been back and clarified her position.

Id imagine they wouldn't get much medical treatment. Rarely see white NHS staff at our hospitals

Again, there's a difference between deliberate racism and past sexual trauma, where a rape victim requests a clinician of her same sex or ethnicity - if the circumstances are relevant.

You're still not getting it are you.

I will say, going back to OP, it’s just another clear example of how rapidly racism is growing in this country. People are denying this but the rhetoric is more like what you read about in 1950s / 1960s Britain. It feels worse than when I was growing up. Somehow we are going backwards.

I get it clearly. Hence why I wrote what I did.