On Sunday the 26th of November of 2023 there was an unusual situation on my surgical ward. It was a situation or event that both puzzled and fascinated me in a most unusual manner. We had an Asian woman waiting to be discharged and she raised concerns regarding the method. Our plan was to provide a hospital taxi with no cost to the patient. Yet her concerns centred not on any potential cost to her but rather the religion of the taxi drivers available. She being of the Hindu faith had no desire to travel in a taxi piloted by a Muslim and that is a near unavoidable circumstance in this area of England.
Usually when one hears of some such objection, similar to this and influenced by culture; it is the white community that is presented as an example of poor behaviour. Unfortunately the playing of the so called ‘race-card’ has become so overused, that real episodes of prejudice are increasing dismissed. There have been far too many disingenuous complaints and this has led to a marked devaluation in the credibility of racial issues. Many people have grown tired of such things and will no longer pay attention. I am as guilty of this as anyone else. The vacuous and inappropriate complaints are now so commonplace, I have myself lost all interest in these things. I have developed the response of rolling my eyes, shrugging my shoulders, saying ‘Meh!’ and then moving on. It is not always the correct response but it is the result of too many people ‘crying wolf’ today.
What I was witnessing at this time however, was a most unusual situation and it was therefore, of interest to me. Had I just witnessed an expression of Islamophobia? Could this behaviour be described as racism? Of that I was unsure. That I was witnessing prejudice and bigotry, of that I was certain.
What were her true objections? Did she think she would be forced to read the Qur’an? That is actually a worthwhile pastime and I recommend it. I own several English translations and I study them with enthusiasm. Perhaps she imagined the driver trying to convert her, while waving a kebab of Halal meat in her face? Oh, surely not. These are ridiculous stereotypes and should not in anyway, be taken seriously. It should be noted and this is a very obvious point. This particular patient had already engaged with Muslim staff, primarily Healthcare Assistants and surgeons. Did she complain when her surgical team had been fifty percent Muslim? I do not believe she did. Funny that.
I have heard of this semi-legendary creature called white privilege, which I do have a tendency to dismiss. I was brought up on a council estate. I have no conception of what privilege really means but I do understand the disadvantages of such a deprived childhood. I am aware that as a man, I can do things that would make many a solitary woman baulk. This will frequently include travelling alone and quite unaccompanied. I visit restaurants, I attend the theatre and I am content to do so without company. What I witnessed that day on my current ward did not fit any of those points. There was no relevance and no reference point. This situation was quite different.
As is not unusual in cases of this nature, I had far more questions in my mind and matters that I wished to explore, than I would be able to satisfy. I was not in-charge, I was not coordinating the discharges and the patient in question was being transferred to another unit. That unit would handle the final steps of the discharge and that would include the provision of transport home. I had neither the time nor the opportunity to satisfy my intellectual curiosity.
The situation ended unsatisfactorily, at least for me personally. It has left far too many ‘loose ends’ for me to feel comfortable. I still have many questions and my curiosity has not been sated. Is it white privilege or male privilege that enables me to travel alone? Is it ‘privilege’ that permits me to travel in a taxi, with no care whatsoever for the faith of the driver? Despite my interest in cultural affairs, I would regard the matter as being quite irrelevant to the journey itself. I do not have the answer to these questions, do you?
I consider myself to be quite broad minded and I like to think, far less prone to bigotry than most. There remain however, several points I wish to explore further. It is true that as a former member of the local Interfaith Forum, I will be more open-minded and spiritually curious than the average. Persons of a narrow perspective and lacking an enquiring mind do not participate in such endeavours. We can couple this with my status as a healthcare professional, it is clear that I have a natural inclination to address this issue.
I am therefore asking several challenging questions. First of all I would like to know the genuine rationale. Can we dismiss this incident as being Islamophobia and nothing more? Are there perhaps cultural reasons why a lone Hindu woman cannot travel with a man? I believe that I did witness prejudice and bigotry. Comments made by the patient revealed that and they are comments I choose not to repeat here. Yet it may still be possible that there is another factor at play and one that may manifest in parallel.
In the ultimate, I realise that I am unlikely to assuage my enquiries fully. Yet I would like to consider this issue further and ask whether if it was to happen again, could we or would we address it differently? Is there anything that we as a hospital could or should have done differently?
©Daniel Bran Griffith the Chattering Magpie 2023
Daniel Bran Griffith - The Chattering Magpie 
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