NHS patients and staff will be better protected against hate, as the government has responded to Lord John Mann’s review of antisemitism and other forms of racism across the NHS and healthcare regulatory system, accepting all recommendations for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England.
In the wake of a series of horrific attacks on the Jewish community across the country, including shocking examples of intimidation and abuse within the health service, Lord Mann was commissioned by the former Secretary of State and the Prime Minister in October 2025 to lead an urgent review into how the NHS and its regulatory system recognises, reports and tackles antisemitism and other forms of racism.
Lord Mann has heard that Jewish people in the NHS experience “routine ostracism”, with Jewish staff being the only religious group in the latest NHS staff survey for whom discrimination from colleagues is rising rather than falling, resulting in some considering leaving the NHS.
The antisemitism identified extends to patients too. Some Jewish patients reported not wishing to present for treatment or putting off receiving important care.
The government is clear that all racism in the NHS is abhorrent, and NHS employers are the first line of defence and must be taking urgent action. With 16% of Muslim staff and 20% of Black and minority ethnic staff also reporting discrimination in the last year, the reforms will benefit everyone who experiences hatred or abuse in the health service.
The reforms include delivering mandatory antisemitism training for NHS leaders and introducing clear national guidance on uniform and responding to racist behaviour.
Lord Mann said: "Jewish people have to be confident that they will receive the same treatment as everyone else, at all times in all situations. If people feel, as they do, that some have to hide their identity as patients or suffer in silence as staff, then the universality of the NHS is fundamentally breached.
"The solutions are simple but require a consistency of approach across the whole of the NHS and clear leadership at the top and across all NHS trusts. The NHS as an employer must act as a responsible and inclusive employer and take the responsibility of making its employment and service to patients one that the entirety of the country, including our Jewish community, can feel and see is one that is for them as well as everybody else."
Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 4 June 2026
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