Reports from the Royal College of Nursing and Age UK show that significant barriers remain for people of colour within the NHS.
The problems of racism within the NHS continue, with recent reports claiming that both nurses and patients are struggling.
Analysis of calls to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) shows a surge in complaints about racism at work. The data reveals an increase of 55% in three years, with the RCN advice line receiving three calls a day from global majority nursing staff from across the country.
The number of calls is expected to exceed 1,000 this year. This follows consistent increases over the past three years, with nearly 700 cases in 2022, nearly 800 cases in 2023 and more than 900 last year.
The real figures are likely much higher, with most racial abuse and discrimination going unreported.
“These racist incidents are absolutely disgusting, and it is a mark of shame that they are rising like this across health and care services,” said RCN general secretary and chief executive Nicola Ranger.
“Every single global majority nursing professional deserves to go to work without fear of being abused, and employers have a legal duty to ensure workplaces are safe. These findings must refocus minds in the fight against racism,” she continued.
The RCN recently joined other health unions in signing a joint statement demanding an end to anti-migrant rhetoric and calling for safer communities for all.
Significant barriers
At the same time, a new report from charity Age UK draws on interviews with older black Caribbean people to understand more about what it’s like to age in our country while black.
It finds that in later life, they often continue to face significant barriers in many aspects of their lives, including accessing vital public services like the NHS and benefits, because of disadvantages that have accumulated over a lifetime and the way this intersects with institutionalised racism and ageism they encounter today.
The charity says that although the needs and experiences of older people from racially minoritised communities are under-researched, with official data often scanty or completely absent, all the evidence that does exist tends to point in the same direction: these are people who are often faring less well than the rest of our older population, and they are over-represented among the groups who experience problems that undermine a person’s capacity to live well as they age.
Rates of poor health among black Caribbean men and women in England and Wales are equivalent to white British people ten years older and over half of people from minoritised ethnic backgrounds aged above 50 in England (53%) are experiencing one or more issues, such as loneliness, poor health, an unmet need for care and poverty compared to two fifths (42%) of white people of the same age.
“Our report shows that racism and discrimination have lifelong impacts – on health, income, housing, and wellbeing – and these inequalities don’t disappear in later life. In fact, if anything, they intensify, especially when they combine with ageism to hold people back,” said Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK.
