Government commission ignored evidence of NHS racism, says British Medical Association

‘Hard to comprehend’ how government commission ignored systemic racism

(PA)

The British Medical Association has said the highly-contested Sewell report “ignored well-documented” evidence of structural racism.

The professional body for doctors refuted the report’s overall findings and said the government-appointed Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (CRED) missed opportunities to identify effective solutions to tackling racial inequality.

In its full response to the March report, published today, it says the findings did not give a true picture of the barriers — including factors related to institutional racism, discriminatory processes and attitudes — faced by many health workes from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA chair of council, said: “The way in which the authors chose to analyse the data and evidence submitted to the commission questions the validity of the entire report.

“They made sweeping statements of success and as such showed little acknowledgement of the indisputable disparities in experiences and outcomes for doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds.

“What the evidence does show is that structural racism is prevalent in the NHS ... the documentation of racism occurring at a systemic level within the NHS is enormous, tough to process, very often not addressed and assumed to be part of the job for ethnic minority doctors and healthcare workers.”

“This should not be the case and it is hard to comprehend how the CRED race report failed to see this.”

The BMA is now urging the Government to begin to tackle structural racism within the health service “so that the values of fairness and equity we ascribe to patient care applies equally to those that work within the NHS”.

Dr Nagpaul added: “We hope that Sajid Javid, the first health secretary from an ethnic minority background in Westminister, will press forward in making the changes needed to address the structural racism within the within the healthcare sector.”

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The BMA says the report’s narrative, “which underplays the role of structural racism, is misleading and so widely rejected that its recommendations, which were valid, were lost.”

A BMA survey submitted to the Commission found that 16.7 per cent of ethnic minority staff compared to 6.2 per cent of white staff reported experiencing discrimination at work for a manager, team leader or other colleague as well has reporting twice the level of bullying and harassment.

Race disparities also exist in the pass rate of postgraduate exams and is evidenced in the significant pay gap between doctors from an ethnic minority background compared with doctors from a white backgrounds, all of which point to pervasive systemic racism.

Dr Radhakrishna Shanbhag, a BMA Council member who has herself experienced racism at work, said that discrimination “blights the lives of most ethnic minority doctors, nurses, and healthcare staff”.

“I’ve experienced racism on many occasions yet despite this every time a sense of shock, shame and devastation overcomes me. I can recall an incident when just before their surgery a patient asked me if the operation could be done by a white doctor. They were sent home and booked in for another appointment. It made me feel worthless and I even considered leaving the NHS after 20 years of service,” he said.

“Racism should not be accepted as an occupational hazard for the NHS’ ethnic minority staff.”

Dr Zeshan Qureshi (Supplied)

Dr Zeshan Qureshi, Paediatric Registrar, once attempted to report a colleague for colleague for referring to Nigerian nurses as being ‘uncivilised’ at a previous hospital he worked at — but this was not taken seriously.

“I followed normal protocol and spoke to my boss, but they said it wasn’t their issue,” he told The Independent.

“I then approached a second senior member of staff who listened but didn’t do anything about it. There was no clear mechanism for managing racism, and I know other colleagues have had similar issues when reporting racism at work.”

A Black consultant anaesthetist, who asked not to be named, described how she was discouraged from applying for a senior role.

“Recently a management role was advertised at my trust and when I told my boss that I was going to apply they discouraged me,” she told The Independent.

“They said it was unlikely that I would get the role, and that other colleagues would be chosen over me; when I questioned why they were unable to give me a reason and the conversation left me feeling disgruntled.

“I didn’t want to think this was down to racism but there was no reason why I was being discouraged while my white peers were being encouraged. I saved myself the disappointment and decided not to apply.”

She continued: “Throughout my career I’ve felt as though I’ve had to work twice as hard as my white peers. It’s constantly assumed I’m a nurse or a medical student, which means that I tend to find myself consistently and subconsciously trying to prove my qualifications. It is an unnecessary burden in an already high-pressured role.”

A recent report from the Royal College of Physicians found that consultants from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds have been hindered in their search for senior job positions within the NHS because of widespread racial discrimination.

The Government is considering the race report in detail to assess the next steps for future policy, equalities minister Kemi Badenoch said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has established a new inter-ministerial group to review the recommendations to “ensure action is taken to continue progress to create a fairer society” and the Government will produce a response to the report this summer, according to Ms Badenoch.

The equalities minister will provide strategic direction and the group will be chaired by Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.