Hundreds of NHS staff have been subjected to racist abuse from patients during the pandemic, polling reveals.
Accounts from the hospital frontline reveal patients and families calling NHS heroes the N-word and P***.
Using Freedom of Information laws, the Mirror uncovered 1,241 cases of abuse or discriminatory behaviour during 2020. Only 89 of 153 NHS trusts provided us with responses, meaning the true figure is much higher.
In dozens of cases, patients refused to be cared for by non-white staff, often abusing nurses and doctors and telling them to “go back home”.
In the vast majority of cases the health professionals ignored the abuse and continued treating the patient.
In one case a nurse was told “f*** off back to the jungle where you belong”.
People from Black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds make up around a fifth of the NHS workforce.
Prerana Issar, the chief people officer for NHS England, said: “There is never an excuse for racism.”
Dr Jenny Vaughan, chair of the Doctors’ Association, said: “The NHS must not be tokenistic and it should take affirmative action.”
