Leaders call for accountability after survey reveals racist behavior toward imaging staff

New survey data reveal a concerning trend of discriminatory behavior against minority radiographers in the United Kingdom. 

The Society of Radiographers is calling on NHS trusts to strengthen how they respond to racism after members reported a notable increase in racist comments from patients over the past 18 months. The organization said radiographers have disclosed a growing number of incidents involving patients refusing care from non-white staff; patients also have questioned clinicians' qualifications based on their race and made overtly racist remarks, according to survey responses from the organization’s members.  

The responses described a range of discriminatory behavior from patients. Respondents reported patients directing questions only to white colleagues, referring to staff as "dirty foreigners" and, in one case, going as far as calling one tech "a monkey." 

Paul Awah, a diagnostic radiographer who moved to the U.K. from Nigeria and works in Bedfordshire, said patients have on more than one occasion questioned his clinical abilities due to his race. 

"Patients claim not to hear what I'm saying, or say they can't understand me," Awah said. "But English is the only language I speak." 

Similarly, a sonographer reported hearing patients make anti-immigration remarks during exams and recounted one instance of a patient refusing to allow a tech of color to scan his pregnant wife. In a separate incident, a patient is said to have declined to have a chest X-ray performed by a Black radiographer, claiming that Black people frightened him. 

In response, the SoR is urging NHS trusts to not only record incidents of racism but also to track how complaints are handled. Dean Rogers, the SoR's executive director of industrial strategy and member relations, said that no employee should be subjected to such treatment. 

"The rise in incidents of racism over the last year and a half is unconscionable and unacceptable," Rogers said. "The NHS has a diverse workforce—which is one of its strengths. We are clear: discrimination, harassment, racism, bullying or intimidation—whether expressed verbally or in behavior—is unacceptable and has no place in the NHS." 

The SoR is asking NHS trusts to commit to working with trade unions throughout the process since there are currently no standardized guidelines to help trusts navigate such incidents. The group also is pushing for more comprehensive integration programs for healthcare workers joining the NHS from other regions or countries, as approximately 21% of the NHS workforce consists of non-British professionals.  

"Racist behaviors undermine patient care and go against our shared values of integrity, equity, courtesy and openness," Rogers said. "We want commitment and clear accountability when it comes to addressing anything that makes the NHS an unsafe environment in which to work." 

Read more here.