Responding to a new report from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) which found widespread discrimination against temporary staff in the NHS and a 'culture of fear' that stops them speaking up about patient safety, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Sir Julian Hartley said:

"All NHS staff must feel empowered to speak up. This includes temporary workers who play an important role in enabling the NHS to deliver patient care, especially in the face of major workforce challenges.

"It is also unacceptable that temporary workers from ethnic minority backgrounds experienced racism from both patients and staff members. This creates further challenges and barriers to raising safety concerns.

"There is no room for discrimination in the NHS.

"While much more needs to be done to tackle the negative culture experienced by temporary staff, it is positive to see examples of trusts’ hard work to support temporary NHS staff in speaking up. They know that creating a culture of openness and transparency can help enable high quality care and reduce the risk of future harm to patients."