Sikh stroke victim shaved at hospital without consent
FAMILY CLAIMS THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT TO COVER UP MISTAKE
A WEST London hospital breached a 71-year-old Sikh stroke victim’s religious beliefs by removing his beard without family consent.
Mr Singh, whose family do not want him to be named for safety reasons, was left unable to speak after suffering a stroke.
The man from Ealing was submitted to Hillingdon Hospital where the family claims his beard was cut without obtaining his permission or seeking the consent of his family.
In the Sikh religion, a beard signifies their commitment to the religion. The Rehat Maryada explicitly forbids cutting or shaving any body hair for initiated Sikhs.
The family claim this would have been well known to staff at Hillingdon Hospital, given the local demographics and high proportion of Sikhs living and working at the hospital.
They believe the staff subsequently tried to hide their actions from them by covering his chin with a face mask during video calls.
His daughter last week during a video call noticed her father was unusually wearing a normal mask and was told this was because of Covid.
In a follow-up video call the next day nurses would only show the eyes of the 71-year old.
A complaint was made the following day to the ward manager and a video call showing his full face was permitted.
His family members were shocked to see that their father’s moustache and beard had been trimmed by staff and they offered no clinical reasoning for cutting his facial hair.
His daughter Manpreet said: “I broke down and started crying because I’ve never seen him like that – he always had a beard when I grew up.
“The way they covered up their mistake made it even worse. All we wanted as a family was a written apology, but they refused. The staff were really rude and now they have stopped us from having any video calls with him.
“We are unhappy with the NHS and we want to take it further. I would encourage anyone else that this has happened to, to do the same. This is not right.”
Mr Singh’s daughter has now reached out to the Sikh Federation (UK), who has written to Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
The Sikh Federation (UK) has also written to Patricia Wright, the chief executive of Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, demanding answers and called for a full investigation on how the incident took place.
The family has been advised it may sue Hillingdon Hospital NHS
Foundation Trust for failing to observe the law that protects patients from such abuse.
Bhai Amrik Singh, the chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), said: “It is impossible to describe in words the impact on a Sikh of his hair being removed without consent and with no clinical reasoning.
“This is a gross violation of the patients’ human rights and his right to practice his faith.
“They knew what they had done to compromise Mr Singh’s faith was a major mistake and unforgivable.”
He added: “We can only imagine the trauma of this outrageous act on the mental well-being of the 71-year old stroke victim, who has already been suffering for over six weeks.
“His family are deeply upset by the actions of staff at Hillingdon Hospital who firstly completely disrespected their father’s faith, followed by an attempted cover up that makes the situation even worse.
A spokesperson for the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “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.