‘We won’t tolerate discrimination’ – Shropshire hospital supports national call to step up action against ‘hatred’
Leaders of Shropshire’s orthopaedic hospital have added their names to a national call for action against all types of hatred and discrimination.
Chiefs at NHS England have sent letters to all health trusts including the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which held a board meeting in Gobowen this week.
Harry Turner, who chaired the trust board at its meeting on Wednesday (Nov 5), said: “It is important that we make it clear that we will not tolerate discriminatory behaviour towards anybody.”
The board accepted the letter and agreed that its people committee will be looking at the work to be done as the implications for extra training for its 1,600 staff come clear.
The letter signed by Sir James Mackey, the chief executive of NHS England and its chief workforce officer Jo Lenaghan speaks of the “current climate in some of our communities means we need to redouble our efforts to create workplaces where our staff and patients alike feel safe and welcome.”
NHS leaders want to assure “our communities of our commitment to tackling hatred in all its forms.”
The letter adds: “We want to reiterate our zero tolerance stance to all forms of hatred, antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and to any form of discriminatory behaviour.
“We reiterate our commitment to creating workplaces and services where everyone feels safe, valued and supported, regardless of their background, faith or identity.”
The letter makes it clear that tackling Holocaust denial, accusations of Jewish conspiracy, and the targeting of Israel as a proxy for Jewish people will be a part of the campaign.
But it adds: “Criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country, however, cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
The letter adds that during the “race riots of 2024, local NHS organisations acted as beacons of hope in their local communities – supporting staff in taking an active stance against racism, in particular at that time against Islamophobia.”
Guidance on staff uniforms is being updated to “continue to uphold freedom of religious expression, ensuring patients feel safe and respected at all times, and that staff political views do not impact on patients’ care or comfort.”
The NHS is also updating training on Equality, Diversity and Human Rights, extending the section on discrimination and content on antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“We are working to ensure all NHS organisations are aligned to ensure that all 1.5m NHS staff are required to complete this training as part of their mandatory training.”
Training includes equality, diversity and inclusion, racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.”
The letter states that existing training is completed by staff every three years, but leaders are “are asking for your help and support to ensure that all staff in your organisation refresh their EDI training as soon as this content is available rather than waiting for the prompt in the current three-year cycle.”
Nationally recommended subjects are “due to go live by April 2026.”
