One in ten experience racism in the NHS

UNISON has surveyed more than 10,000 of its healthcare workers and found that 11 per cent reported experiencing racist behaviour in the workplace in the last year.

The union’s healthcare group launched the Race for Equality campaign during Black History Month in October and asked members for their experience of ‘unacceptable behaviour’, including their experience of racism in the workplace.

Of the 8,047 people who responded to the survey, almost 11 per cent reported experiencing racist behaviour in the workplace in the last year. This compares to 15 per cent of clack staff (and 6.6 per cent of white staff) reporting that they experienced discrimination in 2018, in that year’s NHS workforce race equality standard.

The discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the NHS data reflects a systemic issue – discrimination – where we asked about behaviour by a range of people healthcare staff deal with. This included: being treated as inferior or less skilled (58 per cent); name calling, ‘jokes’ or ‘banter’ (37 per cent); unwarranted criticism (32 per cent); being given unfair or inappropriate work (30 per cent); being mocked for appearance, mannerisms or speech (28 per cent); being blocked from promotion or training (21 per cent).

Of the members who reported experiencing racism, 34 per cent said the racism was frequent or regular, while 10 per cent said it occurred daily or weekly. Additionally, 66 per cent said the behaviour in question came from colleagues, 43 per cent said it was from other staff, and 38 per cent said it was from patients.