Summary

On Mental Health Discrimination #2 discusses discrimination that I experienced at an NHS Trust in Scotland, within the context of The Equality Act, 2010, which is a law that protects a variety of people from discrimination. This blog post focuses on the aspects of The Equality Act, which speak about the responsibility of providers of services, like hospitals, to not discriminate against anyone, and the obligations set out in The Public Sector Equality Duty.

  Ghosted

I was ghosted by a Head and Neck surgeon for 18 weeks. After seeing me once, and promising to ‘get me back to find a way forward,’ he ignored me for over 4 months, and then closed down my case. He did not provide me with any explanation why. He left me with no medical care. His conduct was motivated by what seems to have been Mental Health Discrimination. I was denied medical treatment for my facial pain, because of stigmatization.

The Equality Act, 2010

Chapter 1 of The Equality Act, 2010, sets out that the following characteristics, are all protected characteristics from discrimination;

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage and civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation.[1]

Prohibited Conduct

Chapter 2 of The Equality Act, 2010 sets out what Prohibited Conduct is, regarding these protected characteristics;

• Direct discrimination; This is if person A discriminates against person B because of a protected characteristic, and if A treats B less favourably than A treats others.
• Discrimination arising from a disability; This is when person A discriminates against a disabled person, and treats them unfavourably because of something arising as a consequence of their disability.
• Indirect discrimination; This occurs if person A discriminates against person B, and applies a provision to person B, which is discriminatory in relation to one of B’s protected characteristics.
• Vital to my experience, is the subsection to this clause, which states that a provision or practice is discriminatory if; (a)person A applies, or would apply, it to persons with whom person B does not share the characteristic, (b)it puts persons with whom B shares the characteristic at a particular disadvantage when compared with persons with whom B does not share it, (c)it puts, or would put, B at that disadvantage, and (d)A cannot show it to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. [2]
• I have italicized person B, not sharing the characteristic because the surgeon discriminated against me, by saying in his note to the radiologist to; ‘be careful with this one,’ because, he said ‘I have ‘significant psychiatric problems,’ which I do not have. I do have other restrictions, such as mobility, but, in this case, I do not share the characteristic of disabled.

 The Provision of Services

The Equality Act protects you from discrimination in a number of places; at work, in education, when buying or renting property, and using services, such as hospitals, restaurants and leisure centres. These can be free services or ones that you pay for. Because I experienced both direct and indirect discrimination, at an NHS Hospital, and by a doctor, I am going to focus on part 3 of The Equality Act, 2010, which is; The Provision of Services and Public sector Equality Duty. The Equality Act states;

‘A Service Provider concerned with a provision of a service to the public, must not discriminate against a person requiring the service, by not providing the person with the service. 2. A Service provider must not, in providing the service discriminate a person by a) terminating the provision of the service, or b) by subjecting person B to any other detriment. A service provider must not victimise a person requiring the service, by not providing the person with a service. In providing the service, the service provider must not victimise the person by a) terminating the provision of the service or b) subjecting the person to any other detriment.’[3]

Public Sector Equality Duty

Organisations that are public authorities also have special legal obligations under the public sector equality duty. The Equality Act states that; A public authority must, have due regard to the need to a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and b) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Additionally, chapter 1, part 2, section 149 of The Equality Act states that there is a need to a) tackle prejudice and b) promote understanding, to be able to ‘foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic, and those who don’t.’[4]

Conclusion

The incident that took place at an NHS trust in Scotland, where a Head and Neck surgeon wrote a discriminatory comment about me to a radiologist, refused to discuss my scan results with me, ignored me for 18 weeks, did not provide me with a follow up consultation, did not reply to my letters, and closed my case, was a potential breach of The Equality Act. The surgeon terminated my care due to ‘seeming’ discrimination, which caused me sustained and severe detriment. During the time that he was stonewalling me, my ear pain and facial pain grew worse. I developed acute Pulsatile Tinnitus in my left ear, and I had no medical care. It was horrific. My experience of being victimised by him, was akin to torture.

vector illustration of diagram of human ear anatomy

This discriminatory incident happened under the roof of a public authority; an NHS hospital. The NHS Trust therefore failed to follow the public sector equality duty, and eliminate discrimination and victimisation. A member of staff, higher up, in management, should have caught this mental health discrimination. The surgeon should have been challenged about what he wrote about me, in his memo, to the radiologist.

Foot Notes

[1] The Equality Act, 2010, Chapter one.

[2] Part 2, Chapter 2, Discrimination, Section 19; Indirect Discrimination; The Equality Act, 2010 (legislation.gov.uk)

[3] Part 3; Services and Public Functions. 29; Provision of Services. The Equality Act, 2010 (legislation.gov.uk)

[4] The Equality Act; Chapter 1, Part 2, Section 149; Public Sector Equality Duty Equality Act 2010 (legislation.gov.uk)

Photo Credits; Usman Yousaf, Luis Melendez, CDC, Alexander Grey on Unsplash and Plato Terentev on Pexels.