A husband has shared his disgust after his wife was allegedly subjected to a Islamophobic remark that compared her to the Taliban. Aisha Ali, 26, originally from The Meadows, attended Nottingham City Hospital's Clinical Haematology department for ongoing treatment of her lifelong thalassemia in May 2022.
But Aisha, who was pregnant at the time, was stunned when her routine appointment took a distressing turn as a staff member allegedly made an Islamophobic comment, which left her feeling uncomfortable in subsequent visits. She explained a male nurse, making reference to her hijab and jilbab coverings, said: "Hey Aisha, why are you dressed like [the] Taliban for?"
Aisha and her husband Wasim Ayub, 38, have now shared how they were left deeply shocked by the incident. Wasim explained he had struggled to understand what had happened at first, saying: "She had made friends there over the years, so I asked if it was a joke or something - but it wasn't and she was devastated about it. Another member of staff laughed, but Aisha was just in shock and when she complained it was laughed off."
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"My wife has not worn the clothes since, it was disgusting what was said and she did not want to go back. It brought back really awful memories for us both of discrimination when we were younger - we could not believe it."
The couple, who live in Derby, later complained to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, a NHS body which provides advice and support to patients. PALS did an investigation into the matter, which said the staff member involved had left the hospital according to Wasim.
Wasim said the other staff members had denied the comment was made so it was "our word against theirs". But an email, sent from PALS to Aisha in June 2022, said a manager had apologised over the "incident".
Wasim said he did not wish to paint the hospital in a bad light, as before Aisha had received good care, but felt aggrieved that in his view responsibility had not been taken. "They [staff involved] should have been honest and said what happened, but it is not the hospital as a whole as we had no problems before," he added.
In response to the complaint, Nottingham University Hospitals explained complaints were taken "really seriously" and encouraged people to come forward with concerns. “While we cannot comment on specific details of this case, we take matters such as these really seriously and we do not tolerate any form of racism towards staff, patients and visitors. We always encourage patients to come forward with any concerns they may have," Gilbert George, director of corporate governance at Nottingham University Hospitals said.
"We can confirm that we received a complaint from the patient and responded to them directly in October 2022. If the patient wishes to make any further complaint, we advise them to contact the NUH Complaints Team directly.”
