Nurse suffered a tirade of racist abuse
A NURSE suffered foul-mouthed and hateful racist abuse from a hospital patient.
Aldarico Jr Velasco, a staff nurse at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, says the patient shouted at him at Royal Derby Hospital on Saturday before hurling the expletive-ridden abuse.
The hospital described the incident as appalling. It says that its members of staff regularly complain of verbal abuse and issued a reminder that they have the option to refuse treatment to abusive patients.
Mr Velasco, who is originally from the Philippines, has thanked work colleagues for being quick to defend and rally around him following the racist outburst.
On returning to his flat from the Uttoxeter Road hospital, the nurse took to social media to share details of his ordeal, which he has described as “sad”.
He tweeted just after 8pm on Saturday night to say: “A patient just shouted at me and called me a ******* Chinese **** .
“Work colleagues were quick to defend and rally behind me but man, it was sad. So I went home. Stared at the ceiling for 10 mins. Took a shower, sent this tweet and prepared for another day of work tom (tomorrow).”
His tweet has since received more than 300,000 likes, with thousands of people getting in touch with messages of support.
Amazed by the response, Mr Velasco posted a second tweet later on Saturday evening saying the positive messages made him feel “happy” and “appreciated”.
The tweet, posted at around 10.40pm, reads: “Went out for a quick run to clear my mind and was surprised with all your messages of support. Thank you.
“I was alone in the flat when I came back from work so there’s really no one to speak to in person but all of you in the virtual world made my Filipino heart happy and appreciated.
“Just don’t tell my parents back in the Philippines about this, else they will cry again and ask me to come back home ;).
“My mother told me to always be
kind and understanding and tonight you all proved that a simple act of kindness goes a long way.”
Dr Magnus Harrison, executive medical director, and Cathy Winfield, chief nurse, have released a jointstatement on behalf of University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust following the incident.
There are currently 375 Filipino members of staff working at the Trust, who have been described as “integral and highly valued members of Team UHDB”.
The statement reads: “We were saddened that Aldarico was the subject of racial abuse at work. It is appalling that any patient or member of the public would verbally abuse our staff.
“However, it comes as no shock as our colleagues regularly report similar instances.
“This simply has to change. “Our staff dedicate their lives to helping people and continue to go above and beyond to provide care to our communities as they have done so valiantly throughout the pandemic.
“They deserve to be treated with respect and to feel safe in their work environment.
“We have a strict policy against this type of behaviour, including the option to refuse treatment, and we will continue to work hard and do all we can to eradicate it from our hospitals and our communities. The recent incident Aldarico raises only strengthens our resolve to work even harder.
“Aldarico has our full support, as do all colleagues who have come to work here from across the globe, and we will continue to make sure he we are doing all we can for him at this time.”