Jewish groups welcome government plan to tackle ‘out of control’ NHS antisemitism

The prime minister said that: “The discrimination staff and patients have faced because of their race or religion goes against everything our country stands for.

“The NHS was built on the principle that everyone should be treated equally and with respect, and I am determined to restore this to the heart of the health service.”

In an opinion piece for the JC, Health Secretary Wes Streeting added: “Everyone working in the NHS will be required to attend antisemitism training. NHS England will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and set clear expectations that every Trust and Integrated Care Board does so too. I am asking my Department’s arms-length bodies to do the same.”

Streeting has previously hit out at the apparent inability of health bodies to take action against allegedly antisemitic doctors and nurses.

“Doctors making racist comments about Jewish people at any time, let alone in the wake of a despicable and deadly attack on our nation’s Jewish community, is sickening and demands action.

"It is clear that the current medical regulatory system is completely failing to protect patients and NHS staff, so I am looking at how we can overhaul the current regime, which has been found completely wanting”, he said earlier this month.

Lord Mann said that his review would “look at the issues that can undermine the confidence of individuals when seeking or receiving healthcare.

“Ensuring that the systems and culture of regulation across the health service match, at all times, the universal principles and ethics that underpin our NHS will be the sole focus of this work”, he added.

The Jewish Leadership Council’s CEO Claudia Mendoza said the government’s announcements were “are a welcome first step but must be the first of many”.

“Most importantly, we must see swift action as a result of Lord Mann’s urgent review into how healthcare regulators tackle antisemitism.”

She described antisemitism in the NHS as “out of control”, adding: “It is vital that Jewish patients are able to trust that their healthcare providers will treat them without prejudice. This continued lack of action has severely undermined trust.”

Board of Deputies Vice President Andrew Gilbert also hailed the measures brought in by the government “particularly the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a much-needed review on regulators led by Lord Mann and an expansion of effective antisemitism training”.

He added: “For much of the last two years, Jewish staff and patients have felt let down by the NHS while antisemitism has been allowed to flourish and thrive with hospitals, medical schools and other health spaces becoming unwelcoming for Jews.

The Jewish Medical Association said that in the last two years, the organisation had “become increasingly concerned about blatant expressions of antisemitism – simply anti-Jewish racism – that have become widely tolerated across healthcare. British Jewish healthcare students, professionals and patients find this profoundly distressing and intimidating.”

They added: “We have long called for IHRA definition adoption, for effective mandatory training for staff in the NHS, regulators and other key players to combat antisemitism, and for implementation of uniform policy, all to help make healthcare a prejudice-free, politics-free environment."