Exclusive: Health secretary and NHS England chief warn of winter pressures and rising levels of abuse
An “ugly” racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s has become worryingly commonplace again in modern Britain and NHS staff are bearing the brunt of it, Wes Streeting has warned.
Incidents of verbal and physical abuse based on people’s skin colour now happen so often that it has become “socially acceptable to be racist”, the health secretary said.
In a joint interview with the Guardian alongside the NHS England chief executive, Jim Mackey, Streeting told how he has been “shocked” hearing NHS staff, especially those working in A&E, recount growing levels of harassment, aggression and violence when their care gets delayed.
Advising the public to brace themselves for the NHS in England getting overwhelmed in the coming weeks because of a triple whammy of flu, Covid and strike action by doctors as winter descends, he admitted that patients would be put in danger as a result of becoming stuck on trolleys or in the back of ambulances – situations that are known to heighten the risk of harm and death.
