Racism against NHS staff is on the rise, according to the Society of Radiographers (SoR), with members reporting a “noticeable” increase in abuse from patients over the past 18 months – including staff being called “monkeys”, told they are “dirty foreigners”, and, in one case, a man refusing to let a sonographer scan his pregnant wife because of her ethnicity.
Figures from the latest NHS Staff Survey back this up: 9.26 per cent of staff said they had personally experienced discrimination from patients or service users in the last year, the highest proportion in five years.
NHS England says new national staff standards will require organisations to take “meaningful action” against racist patients, including the option to refuse non-emergency care.
The story struck a nerve with Independent readers, many of whom voiced anger on staff’s behalf and called for tougher consequences for offenders.
Here’s what you had to say:
Patients repay lifesaving care with baseless superiority
It’s been going on forever. Patients who can barely read or string a coherent, expletive-free sentence together thumb their noses at well-educated non-white staff who often speak multiple languages better than they can speak one, while saving lives. Every Black worker in a caring profession among my friends and family can tell you endless stories. Some of the lurching, booze-sodden, abusive, toothless specimens who drag themselves into A&E after a Friday night’s excess are treated with care and respect, only to respond with utterly baseless superiority.
Anti-immigration rhetoric is fuelling the rise in racism
Sadly, the inevitable rise of racism is a side effect of all this anti-immigration rhetoric. The far right thrive under these circumstances, as do their appalling racist values. When we normalise the far right and groups like Reform, these are the behaviours and values we start to normalise and accept again. If there was a general election today, Farage would probably win.
Threatened with deportation by a patient
This happened to me (a German nurse) and a Portuguese student nurse when we were caring for a patient in A&E.
“So,” he said, “what are you going to do when we kick you both out of the country?” I was tempted to ask what he’d do if neither of us were in the country – but refrained.
The NHS depends on foreign workers
Many seem to forget that there are far fewer British people going into nursing and care jobs because of the wage stagnation that’s occurred over the last 15 years, so we need these foreign workers to keep the NHS functioning. Without them it would collapse – there are still 111,000 adult care work vacancies in the UK. Complaining about workers from other countries has risen because of the racist rhetoric Farage has nurtured and encouraged for years now, and to deny that isn’t part of the problem is just ridiculous.
Don’t treat patients who abuse staff with racism
Simple answer – don’t treat racist hospital patients who insult NHS staff with racist remarks. The NHS does a wonderful job, and their staff should not have to put up with racism.
It’s ignorance and arrogance, not skin colour, that’s the problem
26 years ago, as an area manager in a social housing supported living service, we had white racists who complained about non-white support workers or domiciliary carers. If they complained about or refused care from a non-white person, we’d invite them to go and live elsewhere. It’s not the colour of skin of the care providers that’s the problem – it’s the ignorance and arrogance of a colonialist mindset. Disgraceful.
Language standards for registration could be tightened
Racist incidents, from anyone, are disgraceful. However, regarding communication, there can certainly be problems. The NMC publishes “Guidance on registration language requirements”, but in a few cases this does not seem to be adequate – perhaps there should be an actual test at registration.
Bigotry clouds judgement, not skill
The government and NHS senior managers need to stop allowing this sort of behaviour, including assault. If people aren’t happy with what the NHS offers they have a choice of private care. I worked for years as a nurse, and I can assure you the colour of someone’s skin makes no difference to how they perform. Racism and bigotry affect a person’s mind.
Patients can’t dictate who treats them
This is part of a wider pattern of bad patient behaviour – at my local hospital, people even smoke in the grounds despite clear signage against it. There needs to be a much stronger response: racist comments, intimidation and other unacceptable behaviour shouldn’t be treated as minor, and should involve prosecution in serious cases. A patient can refuse treatment from an individual clinician, but they can’t insist the NHS provide a different one.
I only saw nurses and doctors, nothing else
I had a bypass operation within a few days of diagnosis. I saw nurses and doctors – that’s it, nothing else. How can people see anything else? They helped me, and today I’m alive and writing this comment. The NHS is not perfect, but people are trying to make it better all the time. People complaining about colour within the NHS aren’t getting treatment or help from that.
Sowing division
What a terrible shame that those brought into the country to help the NHS and social care must bear the brunt of these attacks, when governments of both parties are culpable for sowing the division brought about by mass immigration. Little wonder some people have become intolerant when they see their towns and cities change. Mass immigration has been used not to help the NHS but to help capitalists increase their profits by reducing wages and workers’ rights and conditions.
Be nice and be treated, or leave
Six years ago I was in hospital for almost three weeks for a heart bypass, and every single nurse, doctor or auxiliary – whatever their background – was extremely good at their job. I wish I could say the same for the patients: some missed appointments through their own fault then complained they hadn’t been seen to, one refused a required test, and others were plain rude to staff, treating them like waiters and demanding things without a please or thank you. If people want to be racist, rude or uncooperative, give them one choice: be nice and be treated, or leave. The NHS is stretched and should be allowed to refuse treatment.
They should be sent private instead
These people should be sent private and see how far that gets them. Even my mother, who is fairly conservative, was shocked by the way other patients treated people of colour during a recent hospital stay – she was so grateful for the excellent care she received from all the staff.
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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