Hospital trust denies anti-racism campaign was in response to Reform flags

Sherwood Forest Hospitals, which runs King’s Mill Hospital in Sutton, Mansfield Community Hospital and Newark Hospital, announced its #nohatehere initiative in December.

The trust said it was implemented following a review of its anti-racism strategy, which found that ethnic minority, LGBTQ+ and disabled staff continue to face “disproportionate” levels of abuse.

But at a Mansfield Council meeting in January, Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams said that the campaign had been introduced as a consequence of Union Jack and St George’s flags being displayed around the county in right-wing initiatives.

At the meeting, he asked Reform county council leader Coun Mick Barton – who is also a Mansfied district councillor – whether he would consider spending the £75,000 planned for the authority’s official installation of Union Jack banners in Nottinghamshire on something else.

Mr Abrahams said: “Specific concerns that have been raised in correspondence to me are specifically around the St George’s flag, because some residents in our communities that have been here for generations have felt fearful and intimidated.

“I believe that your (Coun Barton’s) lack of judgement to connect your campaign to what you say is bringing communities together, it has had the opposite effect and has been divisive.

“The result is that more people have been emboldened to act in a discriminatory manner – so much so that our award-winning King’s Mill Hospital, where we have over 100 different nationalities working, have had to introduce their #nohatehere campaign because of an increase in abuse to their members of staff.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the campaign was not a response to any political discussions, decisions or events.

At the time the campaign launched, the trust described it as an extension of its wider ‘Expect Respect, Not Abuse’ movement.

It referenced data from staff highlighting that 30.98 per cent of employees from ethnic minority groups had reported abuse, compared to 22.97 per cent from a white background.

It also told the story of a member of staff who had been asked where she was ‘really from’ and was told she was ‘one of the exotic ones’ by a patient.

Mr Abrahams provided his own case study of a local resident with family ties spanning back ‘generations’ as one example of the ‘trauma’ that Reform’s flag policy was causing.

He said: “This is a mother of a mixed-race daughter living in a small village.

"They describe painful experiences of racism directed at their child and the fear that prominent public displays associated with intimidation will deepen division.

“They do not object to private or commemorative flag flying as we all enjoy that.

"But permanent public-funded installations introduced without any meaningful public consultation risks sending the wrong message in an already tense climate.”

Responding, Coun Barton did not reference the hospital’s campaign nor the suggestion that the flags were causing division.

He said: “I took the decision, after making considerable savings, to put 180 banners up right across the county.

“These banners will be used for a multitude of purposes, including foster/kinship/adoption and caring programmes, Nottinghamshire Day, Remembrance Day and we have also had big interest from the business community wanting to hire the space.

“The banners we have up at the minute are of the Union Flag and we are very proud to be flying this flag across the county.

"I have had literally thousands of people contact me to tell me they feel it is a lovely thing to do.”

The hospitals trust said it did not have anything further to add.