Doctors and nurses are being trained to monitor terminally ill people and dementia patients and their visitors for signs of radicalisation as part of the government’s Prevent scheme, the Guardian has learned.



A senior NHS whistleblower who works on the programme said that its operations in the health system were so indiscriminate that she had carried out the training in hospices and said that she knew of other trainers who had operated in dementia wards.

“I have personally delivered this training in a hospice,” the whistleblower said. “The training requires staff to monitor and judge the thoughts and actions of a specific group of people and even refer them to the police without their knowledge.”



Criticising Prevent’s operation in the NHS more broadly, she said: “Patients who don’t trust their doctor or nurse may not seek advice from them, which could be potentially life threatening. Prevent moves people’s focus away from care, treatment and support into areas that are police business: counter-terrorism and surveillance.”

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The revelations prompted criticisms from Labour that deradicalisation programmes had no place monitoring the terminally ill.



Hospice and dementia services have been caught under a blanket application of Prevent across the NHS. The disclosures will raise fresh questions over the credibility of the programme, which is designed to identify individuals who hold radical views before they commit a crime. It imposes a duty on public bodies to report any concerns that people with whom they come into contact could be drawn into terrorism.

As part of its attempt to ensure that Prevent is in place across the health service the Home Office hired comedian Isy Suttie and TV doctor Phil Hammond to front a training video shown to more than a million NHS staff. But critics view the programme as heavy-handed and counter-productive, with fears that the Prevent brand has become toxic among many British Muslims.

The Home Office rejected the claim that the programme was damaging relationships between clinicians and patients.

The revelation followed the April visit of the UN’s special rapporteur on racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination, Tendayi Achiume, to the UK. Achiume condemned the programme strongly, calling on the government to “at the very least suspend the Prevent duty, and implement a comprehensive audit of its impact on racial equality and on the political, social and economic exclusion of racial and ethnic minorities, especially within Muslim communities.”

“It is disappointing to see this statement make a series of assertions that are not based on the reality of Prevent on the ground,” a Home Office spokeswoman said.

The whistleblower accused the Home Office of hijacking the term “safeguarding” and redefining it in the context of Prevent. Safeguarding duties only apply to adults deemed vulnerable, with care and support needs, who are experiencing, or are at risk of, abuse or neglect and are unable to protect themselves against such treatment.

“Local authorities will dismiss a safeguarding concern if the individual does not meet those criteria,” the whistleblower said.

“What is happening here is ‘thought police’; concerns are usually raised about people who have made comments about ongoing politics such as overseas wars.

“This is a system that is designed and run by the Home Office, which oversees it and to which organisations are accountable. My belief is that the Home Office has no place being involved in day-to-day NHS work, or indeed education. In essence, this is ‘soft’ surveillance.”

The whistleblower questioned what happens to information about the 95% of people referred to Prevent who don’t go on to be referred to the government’s Channel counter-terrorism programme.

“I have never, ever had a concern raised to me about a white, non-Muslim or far-right person,” said the whistleblower. “Concerns have only ever been raised about Muslims. This is a shockingly bad and damaging piece of legislation and in my view it has no place in an advanced democratic country.”

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Security minister Ben Wallace condemned the whistleblower and said: “These accusations are inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the Prevent programme. Prevent is fundamentally about safeguarding and supporting vulnerable individuals to stop them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism in a similar way to safeguarding processes designed to protect people from gangs, drug abuse, and physical and sexual abuse.

“Health professionals have always had an important role to play in safeguarding and we have supported the rollout of the Prevent Duty with guidance and a dedicated package of training. Prevent training has now been completed over a million times, meaning staff now recognise the signs of radicalisation and what they should do if they have concerns.”

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott attacked the use of Prevent in hospices and dementia wards. “The public will not understand what business a counter-terror programme has monitoring dementia patients or people dying in a hospice,” she said. “Ministers wax lyrical about how Prevent is focused on a need for ‘safeguarding’.

“If the government has finally realised woeful inadequacies in social work and social care provisions, they need look no further than their own scathing cuts. The Prevent strategy is losing credibility and is not making the public any safer. It urgently needs a fundamental rethink and a complete review.”