The government has accepted a series of recommendations from Lord Mann, its independent adviser on antisemitism, aimed at tackling Jew-hate and other forms of racism across the NHS.
The Department of Health and Social Care says that the measures being brought in will better protect patients and staff from antisemitism and other forms of racism across the NHS and healthcare regulatory system.
Mann was emphatic in his report that NHS employers needed to take greater responsibility for tackling anti-Jewish racism, along with other forms of racism, urgently and was commissioned by the prime minister to undertake a review on the topic in October last year.
The peer also said that Jewish people in the NHS experience “routine ostracism” and that Jewish staff are the only religious group in the latest NHS Staff Survey for whom discrimination from colleagues is rising rather than falling. Some are considering leaving working for the NHS as a result.
Moreover, Jewish patients disclosed that they put off receiving important care and treatment for fear of antisemitism in the health service.
Measures set to be introduced include national guidance on uniform and NHS-issued equipment “to ensure patients can access care with confidence, free from any perception of bias and on how Trusts should respond to racist behaviour from the public”.
The JC previously reported that a Jewish child in Manchester had been forced from a bed onto the floor by nurses wearing pro-Palestine badges, and other concerns among patients about revealing their Jewish identity to staff wearing pro-Palestine insignia.
Other measures include holding NHS trusts accountable through the publication of a new NHS Staff Standard focused on tackling racism, setting minimum expectations for how organisations must prevent, respond to, and learn from incidents of racism.
Chairs and chief executives of all NHS provider trusts will have to undergo anti-racism training, specifically including antisemitism, within six months. And overall diversity training for the NHS’ 1.5 million employees to include quality-assured content on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hostility.
There will also be a single set of national guidance for employers, clearly defining employers’ responsibilities in tackling discrimination incidents and providing guidance and examples of the types of incidents that may require a regulatory referral.
Additional measures include NHS England adopting the seven anti-racism principles of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and encouraging all NHS organisations to do the same.
Commenting on the announcement, James Murray, the health secretary, said: “The NHS was built on the principle that everyone should be treated equally and with respect. Racism and discrimination betray everything the NHS stands for and its ability to provide safe, world-class care.
“Lord John Mann has made a series of robust and practical recommendations which we are accepting.
“I know that Jewish people – and everyone experiencing discrimination – need action not words. Together with NHS England, we will waste no time in setting these recommendations in motion to build a health service that lives up to its values.”
The government is set to report back to Parliament on the progress of implementing Mann’s recommendations by October this year.
Mann said: “Jewish people have to be confident that they will receive the same treatment as everyone else, at all times in all situations. If people feel, as they do, that some have to hide their identity as patients or suffer in silence as staff, then the universality of the NHS is fundamentally breached.
“The solutions are simple but require a consistency of approach across the whole of the NHS and clear leadership at the top and across all NHS trusts.
"The NHS as an employer must act as a responsible and inclusive employer and take the responsibility of making its employment and service to patients one that the entirety of the country, including our Jewish community, can feel and see is one that is for them as well as everybody else.”
The announcement was welcomed by the Board of Deputies, whose vice president, Karen Newman, said she was “grateful to Lord Mann for this review and welcomes the changes he is calling for, as well as the government's commitment to implement them”.
The announcement was also lauded by Dr Dave Rich from the Community Security Trust (CST), who said the report was “deeply concerning”.
“The evidence that some feel unable to identify themselves, or are reconsidering their place in the NHS, is particularly troubling and underlines the urgency of this work. The priority must be ensuring these recommendations are implemented effectively and consistently across the NHS”, he added.
The Jewish Medical Association praised Mann’s report and recommendations, saying: “Including the thoughtful approach for embedding cultural awareness throughout the NHS and for ensuring accountability for protection from discrimination, which will be of benefit to Jewish patients and staff as well as those of other minority groups.”
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