> The latest from Eurabia:
> The Primitives Strike Back :
> Muslim medics refuse to roll up their sleeves in hygiene crackdown -
> because it's against their religion
>
> Last updated at 17:52pm on 26th February 2008
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk
>
> Health officials are having crisis talks with Muslim medical staff who
> object to new hygiene rules
> Health officials are having crisis talks with Muslim medical staff who
> have objected to hospital hygiene rules because of religious beliefs.
>
> Medics in hospitals in at least three major English cities have refused
> to follow the regulations aimed at helping tackle superbugs because of
> their faith, it has been revealed.
>
> Women medical students at Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool
> objected to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands and
> removing arm coverings in theatre, claiming it is regarded as immodest.
>
> Similar concerns were raised at Leicester University and Sheffield
> University reported a case of a Muslim medic refusing to "scrub" because
> it left her forearms exposed.
>
> Some students have said that they would prefer to quit the course rather
> than expose their arms, but hygiene experts said no exceptions should be
> made on religious grounds.
>
> A Royal Liverpool hospital spokesman said they had experienced issues of
> Muslim staff not sanitising their forearms with alcohol gel although
> this had now been addressed.
>
> Dr Steve Ryan, medical director at Alder Hey said that while the "bare
> below the elbows" dress code is a matter of patient safety, the trust
> would work with Muslim students to find a solution.
>
> He said: "We specify bare below elbows, no wrist watches, nail varnish
> or false nails in clinical areas.
>
> "Good hand hygiene is one of the most important and simplest actions we
> can take to prevent healthcare associated infections.
>
> "A number of female Muslim students had approached the University of
> Liverpool to ask if we would provide facilities for them to change their
> outerwear and Hijab for theatre scrubs.
>
> Dr Charles Tannock, a Conservative MEP and former hospital consultant,
> said: "These students are being trained using taxpayers' money and they
> have a duty of care to their patients not to put their health at risk.
>
> "Perhaps these women should not be choosing medicine as a career if they
> feel unable to abide by the guidelines everyone else has to follow."
>
> But the Islamic Medical Association insisted that covering all the body
> in public, except the face and hands, was a basic tenet of Islam.
>
> It said: "No practising Muslim woman - doctor, medical student, nurse or
> patient - should be forced to bare her arms below the elbow."
>
> The new Department of Health guidance was introduced this month in a bid
> to restrict the spread of potentially fatal infections such as MRSA and
> Clostridium difficle.
>
> The code of practice helps NHS bodies to plan and implement how they can
> prevent and control healthcare- associated infections.
>
> It sets out criteria by which managers of NHS organisations are to
> ensure that patients are cared for in a clean environment and the risk
> of infections is kept as low as possible.
> --
> Frederick Martin McNeill
> Poway, California, United States of America
> mmcneill@fuzzysys.com
> w00t *********************************
> "Man isn't a noble savage, he's an ignoble savage. He is irrational,
> brutal, weak, silly, unable to be objective about anything where his
> own interests are involved - that about sums it up. I'm interested in
> the brutal and violent nature of man because it's a true picture of
> him. And any attempt to create social institutions on a false view of
> the nature of man is probably doomed to failure." - Stan
> **************************************