A 71-year-old Sikh stroke victim’s facial hair was removed by Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation without any clinical reasoning. His family was left shocked when they saw his moustache had been cut and trimmed.
“My Sikh father has had his beard trimmed in a London hospital without any valid reason. The nurses are rude and refuse to help. I'm genuinely concerned about him now!
“There was no medical reason/consent for my dad's beard to be trimmed,” his daughter tweeted.
A spokesperson for the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust told Asian Voice, "We would like to apologise to the family for any distress we may have caused - this was an honest mistake made during our care for this patient and we have carried out an investigation into the incident, to learn from it and help ensure it does not happen again.
"We are in ongoing contact with the family and our Chief Executive, Patricia Wright, has also reached out to the Sikh Federation to discuss any broader concerns they may have.”
The Hosptial also mentioned that their Trust takes equality and spiritual wellbeing extremely seriously and has policies in place to safeguard religious beliefs and cultural practices.
Reacting to the incident, Sikh Federation UK tweeted, “Shocking violation of Human Rights committed against elderly Sikh stroke victim who has had his facial hair illegally removed in @HillingdonNHSFT without any clinical reasoning. The incident is unexplained to the family. We have written to the CEO of the hospital & @sajidjavid for answers.”
