New ‘virtue signalling’ guide for chemists branded latest ‘woke nonsense’ for workers

Saying a patient has “blacked out” when they have fainted is racist, pharmacists have been warned.

Chemist workers have been banned from using the traditional phrase for briefly losing consciousness in case it causes offence.

Other words and phrases with “racial undertones” on a barred list drawn up by union bosses – in what horrified critics branded “virtue signalling” – include black sheep, black market and “blackmail”.

The – for want of a better phrase – “blacklist” was compiled by Nav Bhogal, a member of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association’s BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) network.

Titled “Addressing racial undertones in the language of pharmacy”, Mr Bhogal said that the words have become “embedded in our professional vocabulary”.

He claims the words and phrases also have “associations with race, power dynamics, and negativity” which “can be harmful”.

The article, published on the website of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA), is the latest in a series of controversial “woke” language guides.

Critics accused the British Red Cross of having been “hijacked by political extremists” earlier this year after issuing an “inclusive” language guide that questioned the use of traditional phrases such as “ladies and gentlemen”.

Midwives have also been told by NHS trusts to use the term “chest milk” instead of breast milk and “birthing parents” rather than mums or mothers.

Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, slammed the PDA for publishing Mr Bhogal’s guide.

He said: “Penalising old white men for using racially insensitive language doesn’t improve the lives of poor black people one iota.”

“It’s just performative virtue signalling,” he added. Hospital bosses banned staff from saying babies are born male or female.

Doctors and nurses were told to refer to children being “assigned” as boys or girls at birth.

The James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, issued an eight-page guide which also warned against using the terms ladies and gentlemen or calling someone a fireman or a policeman.

The online booklet was produced for staff to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month earlier this year.

Local Reform MP Rupert Lowe described it as “bonkers”. He added: “My constituents would prefer this inaccurate and confusing woke nonsense was left out of the hospital.”

Financial firm JPMorgan Chase unveiled a Diversity Equity and Inclusion style guide earlier this year clamping down on anti-“woke” language.

The glossary of “not recommended” words and phrases, published on the company’s internal intranet, stated that staff should avoid gendered terms such as “man hours” and “manpower” and instead use “labour hours” and “workforce.”

It urged references to “good schools” and “good neighbourhoods” to be replaced by the term “well-resourced,” and instead of “blacklist,” the firm recommended “disallow list.”

Company “pow-wows” — which could upset Native Americans — were also barred while the guide also suggested that employees referred to the “war in ” rather than calling it a “conflict.”