No room for racism in the NHS

15 June 2022

Responding to the British Medical Association's (BMA) reports Delivering racial equality in medicine; Racism in medicine; and Why are we still here?, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Miriam Deakin said:

"There is no room for racism in the NHS, and we welcome the focus the BMA has brought to the unacceptable experience many doctors and medical students endure.

"The NHS is the largest employer of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in this country, and that's why it's so troubling to hear accounts of discrimination that still exists within its ranks time and time again.

"To hear that nearly one third of doctors have either left or considered leaving their job within the past two years due to race discrimination is extremely concerning for those individuals, and for the NHS as a whole as we tackle a workforce crisis, with over 100,000 vacancies.

"Staff should be treated with dignity and respect and feel safe to call out incidents of discrimination without fear of recrimination, and we particularly support the BMA's call for mandatory ethnic pay gap reporting.

"We know that leaders across the NHS recognise they need to do more to eradicate racism. Government too has a responsibility to actively work to eliminate racial inequality. Together we must recognise and confront structural racism in the NHS, and demonstrate the behaviours expected and needed – collectively and individually – to dispel prejudices."