A hospital has apologised to an RAF sergeant after staff removed him from accident and emergency waiting room because they thought his uniform might "upset" other patients.
Aircraft engineer Mark Prendeville was taken to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, when fire extinguisher chemicals got in his eyes during a training exercise.
The 38-year-old, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was first taken to an empty part of the waiting room, and then moved around a corner by staff, The Sun reported.
Relatives said hospital workers told them “they didn't want to upset people” and “have lots of different cultures coming in”.
Sgt Prendeville's father, Jim Prendeville, told the BBC he was “disgusted” by the way his son had been treated.
"He's served all over the world, he's been to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq you name it, he's been there," he added.
"He's a very quiet lad, he wouldn't kick up a fuss, but afterwards he was absolutely dumbfounded by the way he was treated because he was in uniform."
Read more:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hospital-apologises-for-removing-raf-surgeon-from-ae-because-uniform-could-upset-patients-a6668086.htmlThe surprise is not that it happened. The surprise is it was reported.
