The trust operating York Hospital has apologised for a sign banning Indian food branded “very smelly” from its library.

The Press understands the sign displayed in York Hospital’s library read: “Hot and cold drinks are allowed in the library.

“Please do not bring any food into the library space.

“Especially not samosas, pakoras or filled chapatis as they are very smelly.”

A photograph of the sign posted on X (formerly Twitter) was viewed over 4.5 million times. 

Trust 'truly sorry' about sign

A York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said the sign was removed and was “not in line” with the values of the organisation.

“We are truly sorry for any distress or upset that has been caused by the sign that was put up in our library at York Hospital,” they said.

“As soon as we were made aware of it, it was removed.

York Press: York HospitalYork Hospital (Image: Newsquest)

“It was absolutely not in line with the values and behaviours of our organisation.

“We are proud to have a diverse workforce and are committed to ensuring the experience of all our staff is positive and inclusive.

“We continue to educate our staff to support them in understanding the implications of actions they may take both positively and negatively.”

York Press: SamosasSamosas (Image: Pixabay)

This apology was shared by the trust on X.

The original post of the sign on X included the text: "Found in a NHS Hospital Library In February 2024. What is the need for the last sentence? Specifically mentioning Indian food?"

Before the apology was issued, Partha Kar, diabetes co-lead at NHS England, shared the post about the sign and called for the trust to take action against it.  

"It is not sitting right with me - fish and chips with vinegar also has a fair bit of smell around it. All lovely food though," he wrote on X.

Polly McMeekin, executive director of workforce and organisational development at the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the sign was removed on Friday (February 15) once the hospital's library team found it.

"Thanks for flagging," she wrote on X in response to Prof Kar. "Agree totally unacceptable. Thankfully removed yesterday (Friday, February 15) by @YSNHSLibrary (York and Scarborough Hospitals NHS Library) team as soon as they discovered it.

"Really disappointing and not in line with @YSTeachingNHS (York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) behaviours at all."