Dear goanet readers

Nothing much has changed in attitudes amongst the professional medical 
personnel since the Crimean War (October 1853 - February 1856) till today. In 
the 
London Evening Standard of 19 April 2012 it is reported:

Quote:
The Queen's former GP is opposing plans by former Labour MP Lord Soley to erect 
Britain's first statute to a black woman. Sir Richard Thompson, president of 
the Royal College of Physicians, said the 8ft bronze of Mary Seacole, a 
Jamaican-born nurse in the Crimean war, was not appropriate for the garden of 
St 
Thomas' Hospital, which houses the Florence Nightingale Museum. Unquote

Mary Seacole, a black Jamaican nurse, was not chosen by Florence Nightingale to 
be part of a group of 38 nurses that traveled to Crimea. Instead, Mary 
Seacole borrowed money to make the 4,000-mile (about 6500 km) journey by 
herself.

As most of us living in the United Kingdom will come in contact with a medical 
physician at some time or the other, we should be concerned about this. Anyone 
has the opportunity now to write directly to Sir Richard Thompson at the Royal 
College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regent's Park, London NW1 4LE, 
United Kingdom or via your Member of Parliament (MP) requesting what formula 
was used in the decision making process that a statute "8ft bronze" of Mary 
Seacole would be inappropriate next to the Florence Nightingale Museum housed 
at St Thomas' Hospital, an excellent teaching hospital on the River Thames 
opposite the Houses of Parliament. I would encourage our medical students to 
get involved.

Mary Seacole is buried in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Harrow Road, 
Kensal Green, London, United Kingdom.

I am sending this e-mail to the Royal College of Nursing for their information 
and that of their members.


Melvyn Fernandes
Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom

20th April 2012

melvynfernan...@virginmedia.com

cc: Royal College of Nursing
Lord Soley
Asian Voice UK


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