Consultant suspended over complaint about surgeon wearing hijab
AN NHS consultant was suspended after revealing how a Muslim surgeon flouted hospital health rules by refusing to remove her headscarf for an operation.
Vladislav Rogozov confronted the surgeon when he realised she planned to wear the Islamic hijab in theatre, which was forbidden because of the risk of spreading infection.
However, she refused and walked out of the operating room, forcing staff at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital to find a lastminute replacement.
Anaesthetist Dr Rogozov, 46, claimed other medics confided in him afterwards that the same surgeon had previously worn a ‘blood spattered’ headscarf during operations but they had been too scared to object for fear of being branded racist.
The woman – who has not been publicly identified – later accused Dr Rogozov of racial discrimination. But the hospital backed him for enforcing the dress code.
Rules at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust state: ‘Headscarves worn for religious purposes are permitted in most areas, however they are excluded in areas such as theatre, where they could present a health and safety and crossinfection hazard.’ The surgeon l eft the hospital f ollowing the incident in 2013. Now Dr Rogozov has been suspended after he was accused of making ‘ biased, Islamophobic public statements’ in a blog.
An official complaint from a Czech academic working in Britain claimed the consultant’s comments ‘seem to be inappropriate from a professional point of view’.
In the post he described the 2013 incident and highlighted his concerns over what he described as the ‘Islamisation of the UK’ and a ‘clash of civilisations’.
Writing in his native Czech, the consultant also described how another surgeon’s Muslim headscarf had fallen ‘directly into the surgical wound’.
And Muslim surgeons in other hospitals had threatened patient’s safety by leaving them unattended mid-operation to pray, he alleged.
He said: ‘If the health care employees in a developed country are afraid to alert some threats of patient’s safety because of fear of accusations of racism, then it is an example of the absurdity of the existing forms of multiculturalism.’
He added: ‘The Islamisation of the UK so far has not brought any positives. The concept of multiculturalism has f ailed completely ... Many people in the Great Britain are greatly dissatisfied with the developments that occurred in this country.’
A hospital spokesman said: ‘The member of staff has not been excluded from work for raising patient safety issues as we take these very seriously. However, since the publication of articles, attributed to the member of staff, we have received concerns about the tone he has used.
‘The content and nature of the views published are currently being investigated.’
Dr Rogozov’s suspension comes after a doctor was allowed to keep his job despite expletive- filled Twitter rants against the state of the NHS and claims that the Government had ‘sucked up to sick doctrines like Islam’.
Christian Solomonides was found guilty of misconduct and suspended for two months from Barnet Hospital in North London.
But the General Medical Council tribunal told him that ‘some people may agree with your views’.