Not a Racism issue - Just best practice

So IVF pioneer Lord Winston has had to issue a public statement that he is not racist after stating that poor communication skills of some foreign nurses are putting patients in danger! I ask you! – this is the man who has proven his humanitarian qualities repeatedly.

My last night in hospital was a sleepless one. I was in pain and suffering heart flutters after a cardiac ablation. I was restless and very irritable and had so many tubes and wires sticking out of me I could not even get up for the toilet. The night nurse constantly monitored me and had told me the evening before that my blood required testing at 4am for some unknown reason and that my warfarin drip needed taking out by 6. None of this was conducive to a good night’s sleep but the real problem I experienced as I lay awake playing hangman on the TV consul all night was a simple one – The night nurse did not speak English!

Now it may seem inconsequential to you reading this but I can tell you that at the time I felt so lonely so desperately ill and lonely that I would have killed to have an English-speaking nurse pop their head around the curtain so I could express my feelings and possibly be reassured or even just exchange pleasantries.

In my case by the morning I was in a complete state of exhaustion and bewilderment.

My friend came up at 7am to take me home as the surgeon had told me the day before and I was by now desperate to get home to my own bed because of the night of despair.

Unfortunately I was not signed off until 5pm and had a very hairy day suffering panic attacks and all manner of anxiety, possibly as a result of sleep deprivation. Things have not really calmed down too much since due to the hospital not co-ordinating my operations correctly so I am now left with a badly fractured collarbone that cannot be operated on for three months.

All I know is that if I had found someone to talk to when returning from theatre so I could have felt assured that all was well then I would have swanned through the mental trauma I was already experiencing due to my cycle accident.

So I agree with Robert Winston – and I too am not racist