03.06.16
Racism in the NHS ‘bubbling away in the background’
Racial discrimination and bullying in the NHS has been exposed for the first time by a new report, published by NHS England, which highlights how the issue has been “bubbling away in the background”.
The NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES), providing the first comprehensive data for all trusts in the UK, found that at 75% of all acute trusts black and minority ethnic (BME) staff reported higher rates of bullying, harassment and abuse from colleagues than white staff.
There were similar complaints at 50% of ambulance trusts, 78% of mental health and learning disability trusts, and 65% of community trusts.
Tracie Joliff, head of inclusion and systems leadership at the NHS Leadership Academy, said: “This is something which has always been bubbling away in the background but it really needs to be brought to the forefront with purposeful leadership actions to change the culture of the NHS so that all staff are appreciated and valued.
“How do we then expect people who may feel undervalued to deliver care when in fact; they are not being cared for themselves?”
At 81% of acute trusts, a higher proportion of BME staff than white staff said they had personally experienced discrimination from their supervisor or colleagues, and there were similar results at 80% of ambulance trusts, 87% of community trusts and 73% of mental health and learning disability trusts.
The WRES also found a higher proportion of BME staff experiencing harassment, bullying and abuse from patients and the public at 44% of acute trusts, 60% of ambulance trusts, 65% of community trusts and 80% of mental health and learning disability trusts.
The majority of BME staff also said that they did not believe their organisation offered equal career progressions for BME and white staff at 86% of acute trusts, 50% of ambulance trusts, 80% of mental health and learning disability trusts and a shocking 100% of community trusts.
Joliff added: “The NHS must now take swift action to develop leaders who can understand these problems and are able to act to address them as a matter of urgency.
“Leaders may need development support to ensure that they are equipped to make the necessary changes. What is clear is, capable effective leadership is critical to help make the transformation which is so badly needed.”
NHS England is investing £2m in 2015-17 in the WRES programme to identify and share best practice building on improving recruitment and board membership of BME staff and reducing bullying and harassment. This includes training and developing 75 champions to help spread best practice and improve patient care within their trusts.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England and co-chair of the NHS equality and diversity council, said: “This report provides unvarnished feedback to every hospital and trust across the NHS about the experiences of their BME staff. It confirms that while some employers have got it right, for many others these staff survey results are both deeply concerning and a clear call to action.
“As this is the first year of the WRES, it provides a transparent baseline from which each employer will now be seeking to improve.”
A 2014 report, ‘The ‘Snowy white peaks’ of the NHS’ found that just 5.8% of NHS trust members are from BME backgrounds, prompting NHS leader Simon Stevens to call for greater diversity.
A recent Royal College of Midwives investigation also raised discrimination concerns after it found that BME midwives in London are disproportionately more likely to face disciplinary action than their white colleagues.
The 2015 NHS staff survey highlighted wider concerns about bullying in the NHS, with 13% of staff reporting harassment or bullying from their manager and 18% experiencing it from colleagues.
(Image c. Royal College of Midwives)
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