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Hospital nurses in West Yorkshire have been ordered to turn Muslim patients' beds to face Mecca.Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust will also provide halal meals and separate shower and bathing facilities, which have running water and not water which is standing.The changes come after Dewsbury hospital matron Catherine Briggs met an Asian GP and hospital chaplain Ilyas Dalal to ensure patients have a more comfortable stay.Nurses at the trust, which runs Dewsbury, Pontefract and Pinderfields, Wakefield, hospitals, will have extra training to ensure they have a greater understanding of Islam and other religions and cultures.Today Dewsbury South Labour Coun Masood Ahmed told the YEP: [[[[["I can understand that people will want to face Mecca when they pray but is someone who is bedbound going to be in the right state of mind for that? Will they not be on a lot of medication?"I also ask what they are doing for other faiths. We should be accommodating the needs of all faiths, Christian, Sikh, Hindu. The only issue is in terms of whether that is stretching the NHS or PCT."]]]]]Mrs Briggs said: "Many past patients said that overall they were very happy with care provided. Some Muslim former patients suggested that a more informed understanding of the Islamic cultures would help staff to further improve their service."I have been working with Ilyas Dalal, senior Muslim chaplain at the hospital, to develop a training package."She added: "Dewsbury District Hospital treats a high number of Muslims. "We always do our best to listen to our patients and are willing to adapt nursing practices where possible to help them uphold their cultural beliefs. I'm sure that after this training our staff will have a greater understanding of different cultures and will be in a better position to do this." A spokeswoman said that the new policy, for seriously ill patients, will be adopted by all hospitals in the trust.Muslims are required by their religion to pray facing Mecca – their most Holy city and birthplace of the prophet Muhammad, who founded the religion in AD600.In accordance with their religious traditions, they are meant to wash themselves with running water before and after prayer.As in the days of Noah.....
