NHS staff report rise in racist abuse from patients, survey finds

Highlights:

• Survey reports rise in racism against NHS staff over the last 18 months.
• Non-white healthcare workers say they faced abuse from patients.
• Some patients refused treatment from non-white medics.
• SoR calls on NHS trusts to improve reporting and action on racist incidents.

A SURVEY by the Society of Radiographers (SoR) has found that non-white staff working in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) have faced an increase in racist abuse at work over the last 18 months, with some also reporting that patients refused treatment from them because of their ethnicity.

The professional body surveyed its members about their experiences of racism at work and said incidents had increased noticeably amid a rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric. Respondents reported being subjected to abuse, including being called “dirty foreigners” and “monkey”.

"The rise in incidents of racism over the last year and a half is unconscionable and unacceptable – and it's a poor reflection on us as a society," said Dean Rogers, SoR's executive director of industrial strategy and member relations.

"The NHS has a diverse workforce – which is one of its strengths. We are clear: discrimination, harassment, racism, bullying or intimidation – whether expressed verbally or in behaviour – is unacceptable and has no place in the NHS," he said.

Indians have consistently been the largest group of internationally trained medics employed in the NHS, making up around 45,000 of its more than 1.5 million staff.

A sonographer of Asian descent working in the Midlands told the SoR survey that patients had, on several occasions while she was conducting scans, made comments such as: “This country isn't the same, with all those people coming over here, taking our jobs.”

“It's become more prevalent – it's in the media and certain political parties and TV channels. So people are openly expressing their views,” she is quoted as saying.

Around 21 per cent of the NHS workforce is made up of non-British nationals, while around one in four radiographers registered with the Health and Care Professions Council were trained overseas.

Following the survey, the SoR said it would place renewed focus on holding all NHS trusts accountable for incidents of racism. It said trusts should not only record such incidents but also monitor how they are handled and work with trade unions where necessary.

The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the UK's largest representative body for doctors and nurses of Indian origin, has repeatedly condemned discriminatory and racist behaviour within NHS ranks.

"Ethnic minority doctors and other healthcare professionals have played an irreplaceable role in building the NHS and continue to provide high quality healthcare services every day to patients, irrespective of ethnicity, gender, country of birth or political views. They deserve to be treated with respect and to be able to do their work without being threatened and attacked," it stated.