NHS 'riddled with racism' against ethnic minority doctors

The NHS is "riddled with racism", the chair of the British Medical Association's council has told the BBC.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul has spoken out in response to a survey by the BMA, shared exclusively with BBC News.

At least 75% of ethnic minority doctors experienced racism more than once in the last two years, while 17.4% said they regularly faced racism at work, the survey said.

NHS England said it takes a "zero-tolerance approach" to racism.

Racism affects patients as well as doctors' wellbeing, by stopping talented people from progressing fairly and affecting doctors' mental health, Dr Nagpaul warned.

"This is about a moral right for anyone who works for the NHS to be treated fairly," he said.

Around 40% of the NHS's 123,000 doctors are from minority backgrounds, compared to about 13.8% of the general population. But despite this diversity, doctors told the BBC that there was a toxic "us versus them" culture in NHS trusts across the UK.

They said they had faced bogus or disproportionate complaints from colleagues, racist comments from superiors, and even physical assault in the workplace. Some said they had tried to lodge complaints which were then ignored or dismissed without investigation.

One consultant, from a black African background, told the BMA that after reporting previous incidents "no action was taken... I feel uncomfortable and anxious of reprisals".

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Source: BBC News, 2 February 2022