Injured RAF sergeant 'moved from A&E waiting room over fears uniform might cause upset'

An RAF airman was moved out of a hospital waiting room because staff feared his uniform may "upset" other patients, it has been reported.

According to the Sun, aircraft engineer Mark Prendeville, was taken to A&E at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, after chemicals from a fire extinguisher got in to his eyes during a training exercise.

The 38-year-old, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was taken to an empty corner of the waiting room before being moved behind a corner by hospital staff, the newspaper said.

His family was allegedly told by hospital workers that "they didn't want to upset people" as they "have lots of different cultures coming in".

The sergeant's father Jim, a former Sgt Major with the Irish Guards, told the Sun: "Mark was moved because of his uniform - he was told that twice".

A spokesman for East Kent University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust told the Sun it had apologised to Sgt Prendeville for "any embarrassment".