British Medical Journal

Listening to Azeem Rafiq’s testimony to MPs about institutional racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club,1 it all rings true—and it burns. It burns to the core of your soul. What Rafiq has gone through could be the story of many an NHS doctor or nurse. The banter, the jokes, the sly comments, the racial slurs, the obstruction to career progression . . . they’ve been a constant presence during my career in the NHS.

It’s easy to brush these off as “sins of the past” or “throwbacks,” as if the present healthcare system were immune to such things. But swathes of clinicians across the NHS will tell you that these things aren’t old and that they haven’t gone away.

The desire for free speech is understandable. But it comes with responsibilities, one of which is not to shrug off racism under the garb of “banter.” Racial slurs are not banter, and in no context are they acceptable. None whatsoever. Yet we have clinicians—confidently, and publicly—trying to explain why racial slurs need “context.” Let’s be crystal clear: the use of the “P” word is as unacceptable as an anti-Semite slur.

A big problem is the insidious nature of racism in the NHS. The people who are openly racist and brazen about it are easier to tackle than the doors that are closed, the subtle changes in tone, and the differential treatment meted out. But many people in the health service still don’t realise how common racism is in the NHS. One significant issue is that many leaders from minority ethnic backgrounds, driven by a desire to progress their careers and protect their jobs, forget to step up. They end up pulling up the ladder behind them rather than fostering an environment of equality.

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https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2832

The cricketer of Pakistani origin had earlier accused Yorkshire Cricket Club of racism saying he was to close to committing suicide during his time at Yorkshire.