Oxford University Hospitals to investigate racial discrimination among staff

A "comprehensive investigation" into racial discrimination and bullying has been promised at a health trust.

It follows statements made by a nurse at Oxford University Hospitals, who said she experienced "racism in its vilest form" from three staff members.

The trust said it was working with the nurse to address the issues.

In the last 12 months 28.1% of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff said they had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from colleagues.

The nurse - who is not named - said she was "systematically bullied" on a daily basis, according to a report heard at a public trust board meeting earlier.

She was shouted at in front of the rest of the team and belittled, and would sit on her bed each morning and burst into tears, the report said.

Chief People Officer Terry Roberts, speaking at the meeting, said: "It broke my heart to hear about their experiences. I don't want anyone else to feel this way."

He added: "The diversity of our workforce is one of our greatest strengths and we'll be working towards making sure that is recognised."

Prof Sir Jonathan Montgomery, chair of the board, said the report was a "stark reminder on the need to drive change".

The report also showed 25.3% of white staff had experienced harassment.

But whereas 16% of BAME staff reported personally experiencing discrimination from a colleague in the past year, this was 5.9% for white staff.

In a statement Oxford University Hospitals said it had since created a staff network "to support the physical and mental health of our BAME staff".

It said the nurse's story was developed with the network to "demonstrate how seriously we take these issues".

"We want our staff to feel confident and able to raise any perceived incidences of racism and bullying, and also be assured that these will be addressed appropriately and at the highest level."

The trusts employs 3,052 BAME staff, making up 22.6% of its workforce.

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