- Conference
- 2024 National Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 11 December 2023
- Decision
- Carried
2023 was the Year of Black workers for UNISON. This followed the COVID pandemic, during which the inequalities experienced by Black staff in health and social care were exposed more than ever before.
An inquiry by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into the treatment of lower-paid ethnic minority healthcare workers in health and social care, to which UNISON responded on behalf of our members, found clear evidence of inequalities in the experiences of Black health and care workers.
The head of evidence for the enquiry has since commented that she found “clear objective evidence of structural and institutional racism”.
A renewed commitment and investment to tackle racism in nursing and midwifery is needed more than ever before. Conference reiterates our whole-hearted commitment to supporting UNISON members affected by racism.
Whilst Conference welcomes the anti-racism resources published by the NMC, NHS England and NHS Confederation; designed to help nurses, midwives and nursing associates who experience or witness racism, much more needs to be done across healthcare to build on this work.
The most recent Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) data for England actually showed an increase in Black NHS staff being harassed and bullied by patients or the public.
Racism in nursing and midwifery not only has a devastating effect on individuals and their wellbeing; it also holds back the NHS and the services we deliver to our patients and communities. Black women in the UK are four times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. The rate of stillbirths for Black families is almost double that for white families.
There is a widespread recognition that racism and unconscious bias in health services contributes to these health inequalities for Black communities.
Action to address these inequalities is undermined by the discrimination within health services which prevents Black nurses and midwives from developing to their full career potential. According to WRES data just 35% of Black British nurses and midwives in England believed their organisation provided equal career development opportunities, compared to 62% of white British nurses.
Over the last year evidence of systematic racism and exploitation of migrant workers in health and social care has also continued to come to light; particularly thanks to the courageous commitment and whistleblowing of UNISON nurses and carers.
Our Overseas Nurse’s Network has heard from a number of UNISON nurses about the racism and exploitation they faced during their recruitment and in their employment in health and social care in the UK. A number are taking legal action against their employers with support from UNISON.
Our government is tolerating a perfect storm of labour shortages, hostile immigration policy, a dysfunctional social care system, and under-resourced regulators and agencies, creating the fertile conditions for racism and exploitation in nursing to grow.
Our nursing and midwifery sectors want now to build on the excellent work done by our Race for Equality campaign to support our members to tackle the racism that remains too prevalent in the NHS and care.
Conference calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1. Work with our Black members self-organised group to develop nursing family specific resources for branches and members as part of the Race for Equality campaign.
2. Support the growth of our Overseas Nurse’s Network as a way of providing peer support and guidance to migrant nurses affected by exploitation and racism.
3. Continue to explore the effectiveness of the current systems responsible for preventing exploitation of the migrant workforce in health and social care, lobbying for improvements and clarity where weaknesses and gaps are identified.
4. Work with Labour Link to ensure any new Labour government in Westminster leads system wide action to reduce racial discrimination in the NHS, working with the devolved administrations to ensure action across the UK.
5. Support calls for further reviews of the extent and nature of systematic racism in health and care services, along with the resources and action to implement previous recommendations for action.
6. Develop further resources and support for health branches to respond when migrant nurses are exploited.
7. Influence and lobby for action to ensure managers and others implicated in racism are properly held to account and cannot dodge accountability for their actions.