NHS to tackle antisemitism after report finds Jewish staff and patients ‘routinely ostracised’ | NHS
The NHS is taking action to tackle antisemitism after a government-ordered report revealed Jewish patients and staff faced “routine exclusion” on the service.
Anti-Semitic hatred in the NHS meant some patients concealed their identities and staff “suffered in silence”, a review by the government’s antisemitism adviser Lord Mann has found.
Moves to combat it will see NHS staff restricting their freedom to display political symbols on their uniforms and antisemitism training being provided to bosses of the service’s 205 health trusts in England.
Mann will say in his 60-page report, to be published on Thursday, that antisemitism is so widespread in the NHS that Jews are unsure of receiving appropriate treatment, threatening its very basis as a universal service. It will outline how some Jewish patients have decided not to seek treatment or delay important care because of antisemitism, and will highlight “shocking examples of intimidation and abuse in health care.”
Wes Streeting appointed Mann last year, when he was health secretary, to investigate antisemitism in the NHS after reports that many doctors had made comments expressing hatred of Jews.
two doctors, Manoj Sen And Muhammad Asif MunafHe was recently struck off the medical register and banned from practicing medicine in the UK for his anti-Semitic behaviour.
Another doctor, Rahmeh Aladwan, He will stand trial at Bristol Crown Court next year on charges of inviting support for Hamas. – A banned organization – inciting racial hatred and using threatening and derogatory words at a protest.
He allegedly posted on social media “save the world from Jewish supremacy” and that he did not condemn Hamas or its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but “condemned Israel’s existence.”
Mann’s report sets out changes the NHS will now implement as an urgent priority to become a “responsible and inclusive employer”.
The moves will target not just antisemitism but all forms of racism and discrimination in the NHS, including racism and Islamophobia against black and ethnic minority staff.
Jewish staff are the only religious group in the NHS workforce to report increased discrimination by colleagues, according to the latest staff survey. Some are so disturbed by their experiences that they are considering leaving the service.
“Jewish people must be confident that they will receive the same treatment as everyone else, at all times, in all circumstances. If people feel that some have to hide their identities as patients or suffer in silence as staff, then the universality of the NHS is fundamentally violated,” Mann said.
NHS care providers, such as hospitals, will become the “first line of defense against racism and discrimination for patients and staff”. Chairs and chief executives of all trusts will undergo new mandatory training on anti-racism, including antisemitism, over the next six months.
NHS Alliance director Rebecca Gray said: “Since Lord Mann was appointed to undertake this review, the experience of the Jewish community in this country has become even worse. The arson attack on Hatzola ambulance station in Golders Green in April was a clear sign of how the growing antisemitism in our society is reaching our health services.”
“It is vital that Jewish staff and patients feel safe in the workplace, can work and seek treatment without fear of prejudice or abuse, and are treated with the respect and dignity we all deserve.”
Last year Streeting said the NHS was bearing the brunt of Britain’s return to “ugly” 1970s and 1980s-style racism.
Prof Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “It is absolutely crucial that staff are safe at work, but the reality is that racism is on the rise in the NHS, as is violence, aggression and sexual harassment. It is worrying how normalized these behaviors have become.”
The General Medical Council, which oversees doctors in the UK, received 779 complaints from UK doctors between October 2023 and December 2025 about allegations of antisemitism, mostly in relation to social media posts. Many complaints were directed at the same doctor. He investigated 86 cases.
In addition to deleting Sen and Munaf from the registry, he also advised four other doctors about their conduct, warned three other doctors and asked for a “commitment” from another. It is currently investigating 31 other cases.
Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan welcomed the action to stop the “poison” of all forms of racism from spreading in the NHS.
