Recently the British health services ruled(1) that Muslim nurses and doctors didn’t have to wash their hands before handling patients. Why did they reverse a hundred years of sanitary medical practices? Why, because the Brits didn’t want to upset their Muslim citizens who think that washing themselves is some sort of crime against their religion. What else could it be, eh?

Instead of washing their hands between patients, the Department of Health ruled that Muslim health workers could use disposable arm-length plastic gloves to treat patients. Naturally, these gloves can easily spread germs if not disposed of between patients and the danger of such an unsafe practice was acknowledged by officials. But not offending Muslims was far more important to British officials than health safety.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “The guidance is intended to provide direction to services in how they can balance infection control measures with cultural beliefs without compromising patient safety.”

Balance infection control with “cultural beliefs”? Either you are stopping the spread of infections or you are observing cultural beliefs. As a health professional you can’t do both unless those cultural beliefs take back seat to practicing safe and effective medicine!

Now, let us understand why this has happened in Britain. It has happened because the Brits have a state run health system and anything run by the state is strained through a sieve of political calculations. Therefore a health service run by the state will be guided by political expedience, political motivations that will force the health and welfare of the patient to come in at second place. There can be no way to stop the political calculations that will often trump the safe and efficacious practice of medicine.

Just like Obamacare, British healthcare is motivated by political concerns.

This sort of stuff, WILL happen here, America. In fact, it already has. Just as the multicultural nonsense that now forced British patients to expect infection rates to rise where Muslim heatlhcare workers are involved, so too will dangerous heatlhcare procedures come to America as Obamacare takes over our nation’s healthcare. All because the state’s chief concern is politics, not health safety.

Warner Todd Huston

1) British health services ruled