The Spectator's Notes

14 February 2009

Charles Moore's reflections on the week

The case of Caroline Petrie, the nurse suspended for offering to say a prayer for a patient, discloses something of which most people may not have been aware. To work in the National Health Service, it is officially stated, you ‘must demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity’. It is remarkable that there should be a state rule about what you can think (the ‘personal’ commitment) before you can be employed. I also wonder if it is possible to have a commitment to equality and diversity at the same time. For instance, if, as Brighton and Hove Council tried to insist against a Christian care home, you must question your octogenarians every three months about their sexual orientation, what are you supposed to do with the results obtained? If you must treat all people equally, regardless of their sexuality, why do you need to know their sexuality? If you are committed to respect the diversity of religious faith, why should you be punished for expressing your faith? The only form of equality which is essential for nursing is surely the belief that all patients are equally deserving of care. But it is this type of equality which is now most neglected in the NHS. Children, rightly, are still quite well looked after. Old people are frequently left almost literally to rot. Some nurses in the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust hospitals in which C difficile ran rife told them to ‘go in their own beds’. If you Google the Maidstone Trust, you will see that it has a Race Equality Scheme, a Disability Equality Scheme and a Gender Equality Scheme, all required under the Equality Act of 2006. At the time these policies were being formulated, at least 90 of the Trust’s patients died of C difficile.

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Alex G Briggs

February 12th, 2009 12:03pm Report this comment

Attention Charles Moore,
I am a subscriber to Spectator and enjoy it every week.Your two subjects BBC & THE GOLLIWOG SITUATION.I AM ALAS OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE AND CONFESS TO COLLECTING THE FAMOUS BADGE UNDER THE NAME OF GOLLIWOG. SHOULD YOU GO AHEAD WITH YOUR GOLLIWOG BLOG OR WHATEVER RELATED CAMPAIGN I WOULD WISH TO ADD MY SUPPORT.ALSO TO YOUR CAMPAIGN ON THE STATE OF THE BBC.To think Jo Brand claims to have been upset is beyond belief.
Now can you and the Spectator go for this Vaz guy who attacks Boris.We all know it is another of Vaz pushing his ego and attempting to undermine a Tory Mayor.

Thank you
Best Regards
Alex G Briggs

David Short

February 12th, 2009 2:52pm Report this comment

Anything anyone does to annoy Jo Brand adds to the nation's joy.

The Masked Marvel

February 14th, 2009 6:13am Report this comment

Actually, Mr. Moore, I think you'll find that HSBC mostly straightened out their worst asset - the credit card equivalent of sub-prime mortgages - long enough ago to weather the storm better than many. Probably more a combination of luck and something slapping them in the face than any spiritual guidance.

Archie

February 17th, 2009 11:36am Report this comment

Exactly, Mr. Moore! As I have frequently posted elsewhere, one of the more symbolic moves to undo the damage of this appalling administration would be to re-instate the hereditaries. Can we expect a statement from the leader of the so-called opposition? No? I thought not!

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