NHS England has published new guidance for NHS services on how to handle racist incidents, whether from patients or colleagues, in the wake of ‘civil unrest’ across the country.
This includes taking a ‘robust’ disciplinary approach to staff involved in racist behaviour outside of work, as well as ensuring staff know what to do if they are subjected to racism in the workplace.
The guidance for ICBs and other NHS leaders encouraged those in primary care to engage the ‘whole team’ to understand how they feel about the ‘current unrest’, and said there must be ‘mechanisms’ such as remote working in place to support staff who fear for their personal safety.
NHS England’s letter said that the ‘racist and Islamophobic riots’ over recent weeks have had a ‘deep impact’ on both patients and staff.
It was reported last week that GP practices were forced to close early and send staff home in taxis due to safety fears amid the riots which broke out after an attack in Southport.
In response, NHS England has sought to ‘quickly’ put out guidance for providers, emphasising the importance of ‘empowering staff’ to speak up about racist behaviour while giving them the ‘confidence that their organisation will back them’.
NHSE has directed GP practices to legal advice which addressed staff conduct outside of work, including on social media.
The advice, put together by law firm Capsticks on behalf of NHS Employers, said employers can investigate conduct outside of work if it impacts the ‘trust and confidence’ in the staff member, or the GP practice ‘reputation’.
Any investigation into staff can be based on evidence such as social media posts, screenshots, or witness statements.
However, the legal advice warned that any disciplinary ‘action should balance individuals’ rights to freedom of expression, and to peacefully protest where relevant’.
NHS England said that when dealing with staff involved in civil unrest, organisations can conclude any investigation and implement an ‘appropriate sanction’ before the police conclude proceedings.
The guidance said: ‘We support a robust and proactive approach to applying local disciplinary policies where staff are allegedly involved in discriminatory behaviour, inside or outside of work.’
Other instructions from NHS England and NHS Employers
- Organisations should make sure staff know how concerns can be raised;
- Line managers must have ‘adequate training’ to support colleagues both directly and indirectly impacted by the riots;
- All staff must report any acts of discrimination they witness, whether it affects them directly or not;
- NHS services can ‘refuse to provide treatment’ if a patient is discriminatory or harasses staff;
- All healthcare settings must have policies relating to abuse, violence and racism, and they must have appropriate processes in place to ‘trigger a refusal of treatment’;
- Any action must be in line with professional regulators such as the GMC
- NHS England supports organisations ‘pursuing criminal charges and convictions in all applicable cases’.
A version of this story was first published by our sister title Pulse.
