health
Racist abuse of NHS nurses rising amid ‘normalisation’ of extreme views, RCN warns
Figures disclosed by nursing union show big rise on reported incidents which may only be ‘tip of the iceberg’
TL;DR
- Racist abuse of NHS nurses has increased by 86% in recent years.
- Reported incidents rose from 3,652 in 2022 to 6,812 last year.
- The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) links the rise to the normalization of extreme views in politics and media.
- Examples of abuse include racial slurs, being called a monkey, and patients' families refusing care from black staff.
- The RCN warns that actual figures are likely much higher due to poor data recording and underreporting by nurses.
- Some NHS organizations do not keep data on racist incidents or provide implausibly low figures.
- NHS England is planning to introduce a national reporting system and emphasizes a zero-tolerance approach.
- Recent BBC data also shows a significant increase in reported racist abuse incidents in England.