AFTER 15 YEARS OF SERVICE AS A NURSE IN BRITAIN:
‘I got Sacked for Praying with Patients before Operation on Healing Powers of Jesus Christ’ – Sarah Kuteh, Ghana woman vows to sue Darent Valley Hospital in Kent
…Says: “It is embarrassing for me, painful after all I had done in my years as a nurse. I was not allowed to speak to my nurse-colleagues. How could it be harmful to tell someone about Jesus?”
BY KWEKU JOSEPH/CORRESPONDENT, LONDON
SHE is known around major hospitals in Kent, United Kingdom as a hardworking nurse, disciplinarian and lover of Jesus Christ, since she never hidden her religious belief as a Christian in any occasion. Sarah Kuteh, originally a Ghanaian woman naturalized British citizen who trained as nurse in United Kingdom having practiced for close to two decades experienced a black-day which is threatening to ruin her 15years meritorious health career.
Indeed Sarah is sad, as her employers, Darent Valley hospital in Dartford, Kent with whom she had spent the lager parts of her career had wielded the big-stick and threw her into the unemployed, labor market.
For preaching, discussing and praying for her patients who were already slated for surgical operations, her employers have shown her the way out of the hospital with a caveat ‘never to come near the property any longer.’ To this embattled lady, the whole scenario still looks like a huge joke to her.
Sarah got sacked in the UK after discussing Christianity and offering to pray with patients before operations. Known as Sister Sarah,she was dismissed for breaching guidelines, even though her job involved asking people preparing for surgery about their religion.
The mother-of-three, who is now suing the hospital for unfair dismissal, said she was offering solace to patients she believed were happy to chat about their beliefs, since Jesus Christ could heal them before their surgical operations. She described her sack as wicked, ‘disproportionate and punitive’.
Sarah broke down in tears as she recalled being suspended and escorted from Darent Valley hospital in Dartford, Kent. She reportedly said: “It was embarrassing for me – and painful after all I had done in my years as a nurse. I was told I couldn’t even speak to my colleagues. All I had done was to nurse from my heart. How could it be harmful to tell someone about Jesus?”
Hospital’s Position
Her employers at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust said her ‘unwanted discussions’ had upset patients and she had also failed to heed warnings that she was being unprofessional.
The hospital statement reads: “One patient had complained that Sister Sarah had given her a Bible she did not want and had said she would pray for her. Another allegedly said she had felt uncomfortable that Sister Sarah was ‘preaching’ at her.”
In June, Sarah expressed ‘shocked’ to be told three complaints had been made, after which she was told to stop assessing patients and was suspended a few days later. She’s been sacked and made jobless since August after an investigation, and her appeal was rejected.