Sheffield doctor under investigation for '˜Islamophobic' comments about Muslim colleagues

A formal complaint has been made against Dr Vladislav Rogozov, a consultant cardiac anaesthetist for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, following comments attributed to him on a Czech website.

Dr Rogozov is said to have claimed that ‘Muslim doctors regularly abandon their patients to go to pray’ and that a Muslim anaesthetist ‘was reading out from the Koran during an operation and was trying to persuade all the other staff to read along with him’.

A translated version of his interview quotes the doctor adding: “It must be noted that in our teaching hospital, this problem is much less pronounced than in many smaller hospitals. There it is even worse.”

In the interview, Dr Rogozov is also quoted as saying that ‘many places here look like the streets of Pakistan’ and that the ‘Islamisation’ of the UK ‘is already irreversible’.

The trust has confirmed it is investigating a complaint against Dr Rogozov that has been made by Dr Jan Culik, a senior lecturer in Czech studies at the University of Glasgow.

In his letter of complaint sent in January, Dr Culik said he believed Dr Rogozov, who has worked in Sheffield for ten years, has been making ‘biased, Islamophobic public statements’.

He said the comments ‘seem to be inappropriate from a professional point of view’ and has also highlighted a number of blog posts that appear to have been written by Dr Rogozov in which other comments relating to Muslims are made.

Dr Rogozov was not available for comment today.

It follows a story in a national newspaper on Monday in which a ‘source’ said Dr Rogozov had been suspended for claiming he had confronted a Muslim surgeon wearing a headscarf during an operation.

Hospital rules are that any scarves must be removed in the interest of patient safety and hygiene.

The trust has said Dr Rogozov has not been suspended and the investigation relates to concerns about the ‘tone’ he has used in a number of published articles rather than him raising concerns about the alleged headscarf incident.

Dr David Throssell, Medical Director at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have received a complaint which makes allegations about a member of staff. We are now looking into the allegations as part of our formal complaints process.

“We are proud to have a diverse patient population and work force and on that basis we have a code of conduct which recognises this.

In relation to the national newspaper article, he added: “The member of staff has not been excluded from work for raising patient safety issues as we take these very seriously.

“However since the publication of articles, attributed to the member of staff, we have received concerns about the tone he has used. On this basis the content and nature of the views published are currently being investigated.”