ENGLAND — The NHS will implement new measures to address antisemitism following a government-commissioned review. These measures will include restrictions on employees displaying political symbols on work uniforms.
Chairs and chief executives of all 205 NHS health trusts in England are required to complete mandatory anti-racism training within six months. The review, authored by Lord Mann, a government adviser on antisemitism, identified that some Jewish NHS patients conceal their religious identity to avoid discrimination, and some Jewish NHS staff experience workplace discrimination without formally reporting it.
Mann said, "Jewish people have to be confident 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."
Former health secretary Wes Streeting commissioned the antisemitism review last year. NHS staff survey data indicates Jewish employees are the only religious group reporting an increase in colleague discrimination. Some Jewish NHS employees have considered resigning due to discriminatory workplace conditions.
Rebecca Gray, a director at NHS Alliance, said, "Since Lord Mann was commissioned to undertake this review, the experience of the Jewish community in this country has only worsened. The arson attack on a Hatzola ambulance station in Golders Green in April was the clearest sign yet of how growing antisemitism in our society has reached our health services. It is vital that Jewish staff and patients feel safe at work, are able to practise and seek treatment without fear of prejudice or abuse, and are provided with the respect and dignity we all deserve."
Prof Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said, "It’s absolutely essential that staff are safe at work, but the reality is racism in the NHS is on the rise, as is violence, aggression and sexual harassment. That these behaviours have become so normalised is alarming."