Title: NHS Surgery needless discrimination based on assumption.

Source: Young British NHS patient

Date received:  Oct 2018

Details: 

When visiting any public place I use an MP3 player playing white noise MP3s so I am not distracted and made uncomfortable by activity around me which I do not need to be involved in. At my local surgery a receptionist scolded me for wearing headphones and told me to take them off. There was no official notice of a policy (which would not necessarily be legal in any case) and the low volume, white noise I play cannot be heard by anyone else. It is nothing like the thump of playing loud music. I am sure the receptionist became angry because she thought she was watching a young person daring to enjoy themselves and listen to music in her waiting room when in fact I was trying to make my wait more bearable. She was quite aggressive and showed no signs of being willing to discuss and I felt very upset so I left the surgery and made an appointment for another day.

Title: Abuse in a British daycare facility.

Source: Experienced British Care Worker

Date received:  Oct 2018

Details:

The most horrific was whilst I was working for an agency in Marleybone in a daycare facility. The Deputy head was conducting a ‘cooking’ class where he made some sort of boiled slop with soy sauce and called it stir fry. As he finished cooking he turned his attention to a young autistic woman who had, in her left hand, a collection of small items. As I recall, a pen lid, a stone, a button and a small plastic block, a bit like a piece of lego.

Throughout the session, no attempt was made to communicate with her or any encouragement to release these items. No reassurance that she could have them back, in fact, no interaction at all. At ‘dinner time’ he called three other male members of staff to pin her down while he prized these items from her hands. She screamed throughout this ordeal and when it was over they sat her at the table for dinner. This horrified me and as soon as my shift ended I went to discuss this with the manager. I mentioned the impact this would have on the girl’s mental health. I suggested it was cruel, inappropriate and unacceptable. I was told the psychologist had given permission to treat her this way and it was the agreed protocol.

My contract was cut short and I wasn’t invited back there.

Despite my best intentions I have not made very much progress with this website. I am going to hand over the administration and technical work to somebody a little more qualified than I and I will contribute articles and other content from time to time, but I will leave it to them to upload the case list I have already assembled.