I hate to spoil a good story with the facts. (No. I don’t. I love it.) Richard Dawkins net reported a Daily Express story which claimed that overworked nurses were having to move Muslim patients’ beds 5 times a day to face Mecca.This had no ring of truth to me. Basically this story smells of the rabid anti-Muslim tosh that’s contributing to making us all crazier and crazier and more terrified of anyone who looks a bit Muslim. The source – the Daily Express, for a start. Not exactly what you would call a newspaper of record. The content – it doesn’t even make sense. Even if faced with an hysterically devout Muslim patient, who somehow had a pressing need to face Mecca, one bed turn would do the trick.

So this is what the news release on the hospital website says:

Media coverage – 4 December 2007
A number of media have today ran an entirely inaccurate story claiming that we have ordered staff to move Muslim patients’ beds to face towards Mecca. This has stemmed from the above press release. We wanted to make sure that you understand the correct position and this story is completely untrue.
Tracey McErlain-Burns, our chief nurse and director of patient experience, said: “Our statement has been wrongly interpreted. The Muslim Moulana at Dewsbury and District Hospital is holding internal workshops for nurses to help develop their cultural understanding. Nurses are not being removed from their duties to move patients’ beds towards Mecca. Moving patients’ beds for prayer five times a day has not been suggested as part of this workshop and staff have not been ordered to do this.
“In the context of responding to requests from patients and families, particularly when faced with a very ill patient, it is entirely reasonable that nurses consider all practical steps to meet a patient’s cultural or religious needs. This may include adjusting the position of the bed, or escorting the patient to the chapel or faith centre.”

So, it’s basically what they would do for a patient of any religion. You would naturally hope it includes not sending local priests to the beds of sick atheists.

This is tucked on to the end of their page about their 28 November story, Hospital Staff develop Cultural Understanding . This is a dull everyday account of the sort of diversity awareness that well-meaning public bodies provide for staff as a matter of course. The ideas they promulgate might seem a bit naive but – given that a member of the hospital staff was so incensed at this challenge to their prejudices to contact a national newspaper – is clearly well overdue.

Nurses and other staff at Dewsbury and District Hospital are taking part in a training course to develop their cultural understanding as part of The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s continued commitment to meet the privacy and dignity needs of all their patients.
The training has been introduced after Catherine Briggs, hospital matron at Dewsbury and District Hospital, met with members of the black and ethnic minority community including patients, local groups and a local GP to find out what staff can do to further improve patients’ experience