NHS employees have shared instances of offensive racist remarks they face amidst a notable increase in mistreatment from patients.
A recent survey conducted by the Society of Radiographers (SoR) unveiled a troubling surge in racism directed at staff members over the past 18 months. Workers who relocated to the UK to aid the NHS are encountering daily mistreatment, attributing it to the escalation of the far-right movement.
According to the most recent NHS Staff Survey released in March, 9.26% of staff reported experiencing discrimination at work, marking a five-year peak and an increase from 7.91% in 2021. The SoR is urging the NHS to document occurrences of racism and oversee their resolution, a proposal supported by the Royal College of Nursing.
Paul Awah, a 43-year-old MRI radiographer from Nigeria and a father of three, noted a rise in racist incidents. He expressed concern over the change in rhetoric due to the far-right movement’s growth, recounting instances where patients hesitated to receive treatment from him.
Ifeanyi Obike, a 28-year-old CT radiographer who migrated from Nigeria to the UK in 2022, shared a similar experience. Despite his resilient demeanor, he was taken aback when a patient refused to be attended to by him solely based on his ethnicity.
Recent NHS statistics revealed that 9.26% of staff in 2025 reported personal encounters with discrimination at work from patients or service users over the previous year. This percentage has seen a gradual increase from 7.91% in 2021.
Thomas Simons, the chief human resources and organizational development officer at NHS England, condemned racist behavior towards NHS staff, emphasizing the need for concrete measures to prevent and address such incidents, including the possibility of refusing care in non-emergency situations for patients engaging in racial abuse.
In response to the SoR members’ poll highlighting the rise in racist abuse towards NHS staff, Brian Morton, RCN Associate Director of Employment Relations, expressed deep concern over the distressing findings. Morton underscored the need for a standardized national system to record racial abuse incidents, stressing the importance of eradicating racism within healthcare institutions to retain and support a diverse workforce.