Senior manager who made offensive comments leaves trust

A senior manager who apparently made sexist and racist remarks on a work video call with colleagues has left the trust involved after an investigation.

But Medway Foundation Trust will not say whether the senior manager resigned or was disciplined for the remarks, which were condemned by leading campaigners. HSJ has been unable to contact the manager concerned.

HSJ reported in August on two short videos which appear to come from the same work call, where the manager is chatting with colleagues while waiting to begin a meeting.

At one point a colleague says she has just eaten a KitKat. The senior manager then introduces a new colleague — who appears to be of South Asian heritage — saying: “While we are all talking chocolate, can we just introduce…” before naming the member of staff and their role. 

In the other video, the participants are joking about people’s character, and when someone asks about how “nice girls” are regarded, the senior manager says: “If you are a nice girl, you are frigid.”

Professor Partha Kar, who received a copy of the videos, said at the time the remarks were “astonishing examples of sexism and racism”. Professor Kar, who has a South Asian background and is a medical consultant in a different trust, also contacted the trust.

He said: “It’s good to hear this matter has been looked into and dealt with. The trust needs to reflect why it has needed external focus and flagging for this to be dealt with, and hopefully such behaviour will be taken into account for said individual looking into other jobs in the NHS.”

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Source: HSJ, 7 October 2024