Discrimination hits record high for second year running

Discrimination against NHS employees reached its highest level for the second year in a row, while one in seven experienced physical violence from the public, according to the 2024 annual staff survey.

Results published for England showed the percentage of staff who had faced discrimination from the public in the past 12 months had risen from 8.5% in 2023 to 9.3% cent in 2024.

The figure has reached its highest level since the question was first asked in 2019, when it was 7.2%, and has risen year-on-year post-pandemic. This has also increased among managers, team leaders and colleagues, from 8.4% in 2020 to 9.2% in 2024.

More than half of respondents (54%) said the discrimination was due to their ethnic background.

Survey results also found 14.4% of staff had faced violence from patients, their relatives or other members of the public in 2024. This figure has increased slightly from 13.9% in 2023 but is below levels seen during covid.

More than 774,000 staff in England responded to 2024 survey between September and November 2024, the highest in its 20-year history, at a response rate of 50 per cent. This is up from 707,000 the previous year and 636,000 the edition before, out of a 1.5 million workforce.

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Source: HSJ, 13 March 2025

Read Patient Safety Learning's response to the NHS Staff Survey