Persecuted for praying: Nurse who faces the sack after offering to pray for sick patient

By David Wilkes for the Daily Mail and Neil Sears for the Daily Mail
Updated: 08:52 EDT, 2 February 2009

A nurse could be sacked and even struck off for offering to say a prayer for an elderly patient.

Caroline Petrie, a community nurse and devout Christian, has already been suspended for an alleged breach of her code of conduct on equality and diversity.

She now faces disciplinary action, even though the patient involved did not make a formal complaint.

Suspended: Caroline Petrie offered to pray to help a patient recover

The case has outraged the Christian community, which warns its members are becoming 'the most discriminated against people in society'.

They cited previous instances including that of Heathrow check-in worker Nadia Eweida, who in 2006 was banned from wearing a cross around her neck at work.

Last night Mrs Petrie, 45, insisted she was not trying to force her beliefs on others, but was simply offering a little spiritual help.

She said: 'I have trouble understanding how offering to pray for someone could be upsetting. I feel it's a nice thing to ask and a way to give hope that circumstances can change.'

She made the prayer offer to May Phippen, 79, in December, at the end of a home visit.

Mrs Phippen, a widow who lives with relatives, mentioned the offer in passing to another nurse the next day.

Caroline denies forcing her faith on anyone and said she was only trying to help by politely offering to pray for a patient

The great-grandmother told the Mail last night: 'It didn't worry me, it just struck me as a strange thing for a nurse to do. She finished dressing my legs and before she left the last thing she asked was would you like me to say a prayer for you? I said "no thank you" and then she went.

'It was the first time I'd seen her. She was a nice lady, did the job properly and was quietly spoken. Personally I wouldn't want to see her sacked for something like that.

'I have Christian beliefs myself and maybe she meant well. But it could perhaps be upsetting for some other people if they have different beliefs or thought that she meant they looked in such a bad way that they needed praying for.'

Mrs Petrie claims she was confronted the following day, December 16, by a nursing sister who told her the patient had been 'taken aback' by the offer.

The next day the mother of two, of Weston-Super-Mare, north Somerset, received a message on her home phone from her co-ordinator telling her that disciplinary action would be taken. She was then suspended.

Yesterday Mrs Petrie said that she tried to ask every patient if they would like her to pray for them, except if it seemed they may be of a different faith.

'Many of them want me to pray for them. I can't believe that I've been suspended over this,' she said.

Her husband Stewart Petrie, 48, a telecom engineer said: 'It seems ridiculous to me that it has come to this. I hope commonsense will prevail.'

Mrs Petrie has been a committed Christian since the age of ten, when her mother died of breast cancer. She switched from the Church of England to the Baptist faith nine years ago.

She admits she received a previous warning about promoting her faith at work. Last October she offered to give a prayer card to an elderly male patient in Clevedon, Somerset. He accepted it but his carer raised concerns with the Primary Care Trust.

Alison Withers, Mrs Petrie's boss at the time, wrote to her at the end of November saying: 'As a nurse you are required to uphold the reputation of your profession.

'Your NMC (Nursing Midwifery Council) code states that "you must demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity" and "you must not use your professional status to promote causes that are not related to health".'

As a result Mrs Petrie, who qualified as a nurse in 1985 and has worked part-time for the North Somerset Authority since February 2008, was ordered to attend an equality course. Such courses can include learning to make a judgment on whether your words are likely to offend the person they are directed to.

Mrs Petrie had an internal disciplinary hearing last Wednesday. She awaits the outcome.

A North Somerset Primary Care Trust spokesman confirmed that the nurse has been suspended pending an investigation.

Mrs Petrie is a bank nurse, which means she is employed by the trust and drafted in when necessary, to be paid by the hour.

The spokesman added: 'She has been told we will not be using her in this capacity until the outcome of our investigation is known. We always take any concerns raised by our patients most seriously and conscientiously investigate any matter of this nature brought to our attention.'

Mrs Petrie has taken legal advice from the Christian Legal Centre. Paul Diamond, a leading religious rights barrister, has been instructed to handle the case.

Mr Diamond represented Miss Eweida and last year appeared for Relate counsellor Gary McFarlane, of Bristol, who was sacked for refusing to give sex counselling to homosexuals.

A source close to the current case told the Daily Mail: 'Caroline Petrie is being disciplined under equal opportunities and "diversity" policies - and there is a growing tendency to use such policies to single out for attack our own Judaeo-Christian customs and culture.

'Christians are now becoming the most discriminated-against group of people in our society. It's getting quite frightening and out of hand.'

The Reverend Prebendery John Andrews, spokesman for the diocese of Bath and Wells, which covers north Somerset, said: 'The simple offer of a prayer is perfectly in keeping with the healing ministry of the church, and for Mrs Petrie to be disciplined purely for that would be extremely regrettable.'