NHS sparks fury as hospital bans three popular foods for being ‘very smelly’ | UK | News
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NHS sparks fury as hospital bans three popular foods for being ‘very smelly’ | UK | News
An NHS hospital has sparked fury after it put a sign banning food in the library and singled out samosas, pakoras and filled chapatis because they are “very smelly”.
The sign, with an official appearance, was placed next to the computers in the library of the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust but was quickly taken down on Friday.
Hospital administrators have issued an apology and stated that they removed the sign promptly upon becoming aware of its presence, reported MailOnline.
The sign read: ‘Food and Drink Policy: Hot and cold drinks are allowed in the library. Please do not bring any food any food into the library space. Especially not samosas, pakoras or filled chapatis as they are very smelly.”
There will reportedly be an inquiry to determine who put up the sign, it is believed. Both York Hospital and Scarborough Hospital have libraries and it is not yet clear where the sign was placed.
On-call site manager, Vicky Mulvana-Tuohy, told Mail Online: “As soon as we were made aware of the poster it was removed and we apologise for the upset this may have caused to our staff. This was not in line with our trust values or behaviours.”
The photograph of the sign left many outraged as they expressed their anger on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Dr Partha Kar, diabetes consultant at Portsmouth Hospital, was one of the first people to draw attention to the sign.
He wrote on X in an open message to trust staff: “This is said to be from your trust as per a doctor. If true, can you kindly review this. It is not sitting right with me – fish and chips with vinegar also has a fair bit of smell around it. All lovely food though.”
He later told The Independent that the sign had undone months of equality work at the NHS which has around 16 per cent of its professionally qualified clinical staff recorded as Asian.
He said: “You can’t control some idiot putting up a sign like that. It’s silly and you gain nothing out of it – all you gain is people’s aggravation.”
The doctor said he presumed that it wasn’t an accident and someone from the trust put that up. He said he agreed with the concept of not bringing food into the library but said the sign was « unprofessional' »
He added: “Is it blatantly racist? Yes it is. But we don’t know if it’s done consciously or if they are trying to make a joke that has fallen completely flat.” He said people online have gone ‘nuts’ due to the sign and want the person sacked but he said that would be a « little silly ».
Professor Nitin Shrotri, a consultant urologist and vice chairman at the Centre for Race Equality in Medicine, wrote on social media: “Most people are nice, a few are naughty and very few are really nasty. I hope whoever put this up gets called out. It was totally uncalled for!”
Director of workforce and organisational development at the trust Polly McMeekin posted an apology on X. She wrote: “Thanks for flagging. Agree totally unacceptable. Thankfully removed yesterday by York and Scarborough Hospitals NHS Library team as soon as they discovered it.
“Really disappointing and not in line with York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals behaviours at all.”
Express.co.uk has reached out to York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for a comment.
Cet article est apparu en premier en ANGLAIS sur https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1867884/nhs-fury-hospital-ban-food-smelly