Trust CEO apologises to staff subjected to racist behaviour

A chief executive has apologised after a survey of his trust’s staff from minority ethnic backgrounds found many had been subjected to racist behaviour by colleagues.

The staff at East of England Ambulance Service Trust said peers had made monkey noises and referred to banana boats in front of them, excluded them from social events, and assumed they could speak Middle Eastern and Asian languages just because of their skin colour, they told researchers.

The trust has had substantial cultural problems for several years, and commissioned the survey to “better understand the experience, perceptions and realities of the trust BME staff”, a board paper said.

The report on its findings, published this week in trust board papers, warns: “There are risks that a minority of EEAST employees are demonstrating behaviours or using language which could be perceived as racist. Reports of subsequent inaction by managers further risk this behaviour being normalised.”

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Source: HSJ, 15 March 2023