On the 22nd of July, a 21 year old black NHS worker was the victim of a racially motivated hit and run as he walked to his bus stop after finishing work. He was deliberately struck by two men in a dark blue Honda Accord, who shouted racial abuse at him while he lay bleeding. His injuries include a broken leg, nose, cheek, and permanent scars to the face.
Racially motivated attacks, abuse and aggression are not isolated incidents for non-white NHS workers, which make up 1 in 5. NHS surveys show that 29% of non – white staff experienced bullying or harassment by a manager or team leader, and 29.8% experienced bullying or harassment by a patient, relative or public. It goes ignored and underreported. In times of corona-virus, the institutional racism has only intensified.
Structural inequalities mean black staff are four times more likely to die of COVID-19. 61% of health workers that have passed away due to the virus are non-white and the government continues to ignore the statistically proven vulnerability that non white health care workers face, failing to protect those on the front line. It was predictable that those who are consistently failed by the system are the most vulnerable; the government’s shambolic measures against COVID-19 reflecting once again the systemic racism in the healthcare system. Remember their empty statements; “we are all in this together”. Clearly BAME people are far more in it than others.
Written by Isa Edwards Buesa
Artwork by Zara Masood
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