Anti-racism drive as more than a quarter of ethnic minority staff at King's Mill Hospital abused

Bosses at King’s Mill Hospital are taking stand against racism towards their staff with the launch of a new anti-racism strategy.
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Coinciding with the UK’s Race Equality Week, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust says its strategy demonstrates its commitment to its staff and its determination to tackle a rise in racist and unacceptable behaviour by some patients and visitors.

The trust, which runs King’s Mill in Sutton, as well as Mansfield Community Hospital, said people from ethnic minorities make up almost 18 per cent of its workforce, which is higher than the local population of 5 per cent.

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The trust’s 2020 staff survey results show an almost 2 per cent increase in ethnic minority colleagues experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients, relatives or members of the public, while abuse towards white colleagues fell by 2.9 per cent in the same period.

Sutton's King's Mill HospitalSutton's King's Mill Hospital
Sutton's King's Mill Hospital

Ali Pearson, trust equality, diversity and inclusivity lead said: “We are an inclusive employer and proud of our highly skilled colleagues who have a range of diverse backgrounds.

“Sadly, in 2020, more than a quarter of our colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds reported abuse from patients and visitors, and trust-wide we have seen an increase in both verbal and physical aggression towards our colleagues.

“However, it is thought the actual figure is much higher as some of our teams feel receiving abuse is ‘part of their job’ and do not report instances for escalation or investigation.

“This makes me feel incredibly sad and concerned.

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"In order for SFH to continue to provide outstanding care to our patients, we need to ensure our teams and colleagues are looked after and protected from racial harm while at work.”

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Patient abuse

Darrell Kawooya, a trainee doctor who was on rotation with the trust in 2021, experienced racial abuse from a patient he was caring for in the emergency assessment unit.

He said: “I was racially abused by a patient last year, who did not want me to care for them because of the colour of my skin.

“I have trained many years to become a doctor and feel confident in my abilities to provide quality care, however, at the time, this incident made me feel inadequate.

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“Fortunately, I was supported by a nurse who acted as an ally.

“I advocate the implementation of this strategy, knowing my story has supported its development.

“I hope it will protect colleagues and provide education to staff and the public so individuals do not have the experience I had while looking after a patient and providing care.

“Sherwood Forest Hospitals is home to people from many backgrounds and ethnicities, and racism has no place in the trust or the NHS.”

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Manjeet Gill, trust people, culture and organisational development committee chairman, said: “The racial abuse towards Darrell led to conversations from which the strategy was formed.

"Unfortunately, those conversations originated after Darrell experienced severe and unacceptable racist behaviour from the patient he was trying to care for.

“The strategy outlines some clear principles and asks patients and visitors in our hospitals to act respectfully and appropriately on our sites.

"Our passionate and talented teams do not deserve to experience these racist behaviours, and this strategy will protect them from further harm.”

The strategy can be found at bit.ly/SFHAntiRacism

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