NHS employees have shared the offensive racist remarks they face amidst a surge in mistreatment from patients.
Staff have observed an alarming increase in racism from patients over the past 18 months, as revealed in a survey conducted by the Society of Radiographers (SoR). Individuals who relocated to the UK to support the NHS are encountering daily mistreatment, which they attribute to the growth of the far-right movement.
Recent data from the NHS Staff Survey, released in March, indicates that 9.26% of staff members have encountered discrimination at work – marking a five-year peak and an increase from 7.91% in 2021. The SoR is urging the NHS to document instances of racism and monitor the responses to such incidents. This call is supported by the Royal College of Nursing.
Paul Awah, a 43-year-old MRI radiographer from Nigeria and a father of three, expressed encountering a rise in racist incidents. He expressed concern over the shifting rhetoric due to the rise in the far-right movement, leading to patients displaying reluctance to be treated by him.
Ifeanyi Obike, a 28-year-old CT radiographer from Nigeria who moved to the UK in 2022, shared a similar sentiment. Despite his optimistic demeanor, he was taken aback when a patient refused to be treated by him, showcasing discriminatory behavior.
Statistics from earlier this year within the NHS disclosed that 9.26% of staff in 2025 reported facing discrimination at work in the past year from patients or service users. This figure has increased from 9.25% in 2024, 8.57% in 2023, 8.38% in 2022, and 7.91% in 2021.
Thomas Simons, the chief human resources and organizational development officer at NHS England, emphasized that racist abuse towards NHS staff is intolerable and must not be tolerated within the health service. He stressed the importance of implementing measures to prevent and address racism, support affected staff, and impose consequences on patients who engage in racial abuse.
The findings from a survey of Society of Radiographers members, highlighting a rise in racist abuse towards NHS staff, were met with outrage by Brian Morton, the RCN Associate Director of Employment Relations. Morton called for a standardized method of recording racial abuse incidents on a national scale to understand the full extent of the problem and ensure accountability for employers who fail to address racism within their organizations.
