Patients who racially abuse staff at Southmead Hospital could be refused treatment and ejected from the premises under a tough new policy brought in by hospital bosses.
North Bristol NHS Trust has launched a ‘Red Card to Racism’ campaign with a football-style yellow and red card system being introduced from today (Monday, Nov 4).
Staff at Southmead and North Bristol’s other hospital sites have reported that incidents of racism on wards have increased over the past year, and prompted a new ‘zero tolerance’ policy against abusive behaviour.
Chief executive Andrea Young said it meant that any patient abusing staff will be challenged and warned, leading to a yellow card, and then a final red card if they carry on in which ‘treatment would be withdrawn as soon as is safe’.
Cases of patients asking to be treated by another nurse or doctor who isn’t black or from another ethnicity that’s in a minority in Britain have hit the headlines across Britain, and Southmead’s bosses said they will not tolerate that or other abuse or racism in the hospital.
“We have staff from many different backgrounds, from all over the world, and we pride ourselves on our commitment to equality which is a fundamental value of the NHS,” she said.
“We’re sending a strong signal that any racism or discrimination is completely unacceptable – we want staff to challenge and report it and we want everyone to know that it will have consequences.”
The abusive behaviour policy covers anyone with mental capacity making:
- Racist or sexist language, gestures or behaviour.
- Excessive noise.
- Abuse of alcohol or drugs.
- Threatening and offensive language.
- Malicious allegations.
- Intentional damage to trust property.
Any cases will be reported on the trust’s incident management system and on patients’ individual notes.
The new policy will be publicised with posters around the hospital, and staff will be encouraged to report anything they hear or see.
Alex Raikes from Stand Against Racism & Inequality (SARI) supported the move.
“SARI is working with a number of hospital trusts regarding racist incidents towards staff and patients, and is pleased to be supporting a dedicated working group at NBT in enforcing the zero tolerance approach towards racism and hate crime,” she said.
“It is crucial that hospitals are safe, respectful and inclusive environments, and that all the hard-working employees’ feel fully supported when they face such abuse.
“It’s great to see NBT putting out the strongest message possible to the wider community about the abhorrence of any forms of discrimination against their staff or visitors,” she added.
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