Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHS
Pam Jones
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Comment on: Calls to ban 'nasty, racist' BNP members from nursing
If we start banning people for their 'apparent' beliefs, then we may have to consider banning people for all sorts of beliefs. In nursing, for example, we might have to ban people who do not 'believe' in abortion, assisted suicide, female equality in law, 'gay' equality in law...etc. Also, I am concerned that, given the rise in BNP membership in a lot of areas that the label 'racist' for all members of that party cannot be proved. Having read a lot of the material on the BNP website, I am not convinced that it is a racist party as such - it seems to me that it is a very nationalist party, and no more racist than the SNP, in fact probably less racist than the SNP. Are you proposing to ban all extreme nationlists from nursing? Such a proposal seems to me to be itself something of a fascist stance. Surely it is better to propose that any rascist behaviour by a nurse should lead to disciplinary action and possible ban. Also, I am concerned that the profession seems much more concerned about this issue than it is about the issue of 'whistleblowers' getting banned from the profession. The British public needs to feel that health professionals can and will speak out about maladministration, neglect etc., rather than about a fellow professional's political views. Any 'banning' actions by the nursing profession will only increase the public's distrust of the whole healthcare apparatus, in my view.
