Tackling racism in healthcare settings starts with understanding how it happens. In 2019 a Unison report published insightful information on healthcare staff who have experienced racism. Interestingly 35% of staff experiencing racism chose not to complain, 36 to 38 % spoke to a colleague about it or a family member, 13.3 % reported to the police, 10% left the organization and 10% did not know what to do. The report states that 36.9 % did not report the unacceptable behavior because they feared retaliation from the perpetrator(s) and 24.4 % felt no one will believe them. What is really interesting in this survey was staff at a proportion of 62% are the ones committing unacceptable behavior against only 35 % of patients.
Of course, this clearly and evidently suggests a systemic issue of discrimination in the NHS. These are in the form of treating BAME as less skilled, inferior, name-calling, being given unfair workload or work allocation, mocked for speech or accent, deliberately isolating or refusing to work with or support, biased allegations and ultimately being blocked from training and promotion. Tackling racism requires to be informed about policy and procedures, but I believe more actions need to be implemented by governments and healthcare institutions in order to see remarkable changes… some tips below may be useful but definitely not exhaustive.

– Get to know the policy on harassment in your company
– How any form of discrimination is dealt with or implemented
– Keep a meticulous record (Time, name, offensive words used, physical actions etc…) of any incident you feel may be based on racial prejudice and do your research or speak to knowledgeable people in BAME association or union rep to ascertain the facts.
– Find an appropriate network to share your concern with friends or trustworthy colleagues so others can be prepared.

Follow this link to access resources to tackle racism and discrimination
https://www.nhsemployers.org/news/2020/06/access-resources-to-tackle-racism-and-discrimination

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