31.01.2002

Racism smear -cover for failure

Fierce rows over the NHS are hardly new. Getting all steamed up and self-righteous about it as often as possible is just part of your job description if you are a mainstream politician. You care - really care. As part of this good fight, last week we had the 'war of the Rose' - the Rose in question being the 94-year-old Rose Addis. Her treatment, or alleged lack of treatment, at the Whittington hospital in Archway, North London, became a cause célèbre and developed into an unedifying ding-dong match between New Labour and the Tories. The political storm that developed brought comparisons with the 'Jennifer's ear' furore of 1992, when Labour's attempt in the general election campaign to denigrate the Tories' NHS policy collapsed under a welter of bitter accusations over the specifics of a particular patient. Cynically, Labour had championed the case of Jennifer Bennett, a girl who had waited 11 months for treatment for her 'ear glue'. It turned out that the reasons for the delay were not connected to NHS underfunding. However, what was notable about the Rose Addis scandal was that it became entangled with accusations of racism. This was reflected in the headline which appeared in The Guardian the day after the story broke: "Tory health attack backfires in race row" (January 24). Iain Duncan Smith had raised the case during question time in the House of Commons. It was claimed that Addis had been left in casualty covered in blood for days after staff failed to change her clothes. But then stories began to circulate that the nonagenarian patient was a racist troublemaker (it's good to keep active, I suppose). When professor James Malone-Lee, Whittington hospital's medical director, and a Labour activist for 20 years, was asked on the BBC's Newsnight programme as to whether there had been a racial motive behind her refusal to accept a change of clothes, he coyly said: "I can imagine people could deduce that." The implication is clear. Addis would not allow herself to be changed by black staff. Professor Malone-Lee outlined the problem: "It is an area of healthcare that is often a problem to us. It causes a great deal of distress to staff. I felt if I was to be more explicit about what informed her decision that would only inflame the position." In a previous statement, Malone-Lee had said that some, mainly elderly, patients did not want to be treated by "that sort of staff" - ie, black and Asian workers. Mischievously, the pro-Labour Guardian kept the official anti-racist fires burning by speaking to a female patient in the cubicle next to Addis. She told the newspaper that Rose had refused point-blank to be treated by a nurse "¦ who was black. But this line of attack fell flat. Ironically, the official anti-racist tables were turned when it was revealed that the Addis family is jewish. Outraged, her grandson, Jason Gold, commented: "What makes it worse is that, being jewish, we feel that we are also an ethnic minority, albeit a large one. To be accused of racism ourselves is just below the belt." Being from an ethnic minority is hardly proof of anti-racist credentials. However, it seems clear that the woman is not a chauvinist in any meaningful sense. Gold added: "My grandmother has two social carers from Hackney social services who are both from ethnic minorities. She absolutely adores them and they love her in return." Whittington hospital's chief executive, Trevor Campbell-Davis, moved quickly to suppress the race row. He felt compelled to stress the fact that Addis had two "adored" black carers and issued a statement saying: "We are talking about a 94-year-old lady whose care has always been provided by a variety of staff and, although with anyone of that age sometimes there are some difficulties, I would not want the hospital ever to have given the impression that there was any racist overtone." So eat humble pie, professor Malone-Lee "¦ and The Guardian? As for Addis's granddaughter, Bev Cohen-Gold, she wrote a fuming letter to the same paper, describing the allegations of racism as a "smokescreen" for inadequate treatment. She also posed an interesting question: "And since when have we only been offering personal care to politically correct patients?" (January 25). Naturally, racism can be a real problem for staff. A recent NHS census indicated that some 100,000 Asian and black healthworkers have reported being racially abused to one degree or another at some stage in their career. But do communists therefore advocate that NHS bosses refuse treatment to racist or bigoted patients? There are big signs in the public waiting areas at the Whittington hospital - as in virtually all hospitals - which announce: "Verbal abuse is unacceptable. Appropriate action - including legal action - will be taken." If this old woman had subjected a black/ Asian nurse to "verbal abuse" would it therefore be "appropriate" to take "action" against her? We must not tail the institutional anti-racism of the NHS bosses. The truth is that, while racism is still a problem in the health service, as in many other areas, the furore over that aspect was used by politically correct supporters of New Labour in an attempt to cover up the failings of the cash-starved NHS. For well over a decade the Tories implemented systematic cuts in a deliberate attempt to force those who could afford it to take out private healthcare. Those who could not would have to lump it. Although they always denied it, the Thatcher-era Tories believed that the NHS was an expensive albatross and that healthcare, like just about every other public service, needed to be privatised and run for profit. This was called rolling back the state. That would stop the NHS eating into middle class income and company profits through taxation, at the same time breaking what remained of union power. Despite all its promises to make a fully funded NHS a reality, New Labour has failed dismally to make any substantial improvements. The Tories are now desperately attempting to manufacture a 'caring' image for themselves. But neither they nor New Labour - no matter how many Rose Addises or Jennifer Bennetts they use as political footballs - will succeed in convincing many people that they are the champions of the National Health Service. Eddie Ford