There has been a “catastrophic rise” in racial abuse against nurses, according to new analysis.
Calls to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) helpline from ethnic minority staff seeking advice after facing discrimination have risen by 70% in recent years, the union said.
Calls included a nurse who claimed a patient’s family said they did not want black people caring for their daughter, as well as one who was told by a senior colleague that they did not like Indian people.
One nurse observing Ramadan said they had heard comments about Muslim staff and how they should not be allowed to pray.
Speaking at the RCN’s annual congress in Liverpool, general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger described the situation as a “disgrace”.
The RCN also submitted a freedom of information (FoI) request to NHS trusts and health boards across the UK, with 106 responses providing data on nurses.
The data showed 21,725 reported incidents involving racial abuse or discrimination between 2022 and 2025.
However, the RCN suggests the true figure would be upward of 40,000 if all NHS trusts had effective reporting systems in place.
This is the equivalent to one incident every 51 minutes, it said.
Prof Ranger called for a standardised system of reporting racism which includes more thorough data.
She said: “These findings show a catastrophic rise in the racist abuse faced by nursing staff.
“It is a disgrace, and perhaps just as bad is the fact that many NHS trusts and health boards cannot even tell us how many staff have been on the receiving end.
“It amounts to a policy of ‘don’t know, don’t care’.
“Nursing staff are the lifeblood of our NHS and social care too, made up of every nationality and ethnicity, coming together to care for patients every day.
“They are a shining example of a successful, multicultural modern United Kingdom, and they deserve better than for this disgusting racism and abuse to flourish and become so normalised.
“Our colleagues are being let down by health leaders who are failing in their duty to keep them safe at work and by politicians who cynically play communities off each other for political gain.
“As employers, NHS trusts and health boards must be uncompromising in challenging this vile abuse from patients and, where it does occur, ensure staff are supported to report it.
“Across all the NHS, we need a standardised method of recording incidents of racial abuse which includes data on the staff group, work areas and ethnicity of the staff member making the report.
“We cannot hope to stamp out racism in our health service while health leaders are in the dark over the scale of the crisis.”
In her keynote speech at congress on Monday, Prof Ranger said there has been a “palpable rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric that is absolutely abhorrent”.
She said the country should not be surprised if nurses leave as a result of not feeling welcome.
“The diversity of our profession brings us so much,” Prof Ranger told delegates.
“Diversity too should be celebrated across health and social care, but it’s too often not the case.
“We are committed to dignity, respect, and equality for all. But there has been a palpable rise in anti-immigration rhetoric that is absolutely abhorrent.
“Changes to immigration rules and Indefinite Leave to Remain threaten to push people away.
“But the truth of the matter is, if we don’t make nursing staff feel welcome, we shouldn’t be surprised if you decide to leave. We cannot allow that to happen.
“Because it only risks deepening nursing workforce issues, creating a recruitment and retention crisis of internationally educated staff.”
