Jewish NHS patients and staff feel need to 'suffer in silence' amid rising antisemitism, review finds
The government’s independent adviser on antisemitism has made a series of recommendations which have been accepted
Jewish healthcare staff and patients "suffer in silence" and feel the need to hide their religious identity, a review has concluded.
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Lord John Mann, who was tasked last year with looking into antisemitism in the health service, has called on the NHS to be "a responsible and inclusive employer".
The review heard how some Jewish staff experience "routine ostracism" with some even considering leaving.
The government’s independent adviser on antisemitism has made a series of recommendations, which have not yet been published but are due to be laid before Parliament on Thursday.
Read more: Nurse faces being struck off after saying Jewish patients were ‘tight with money'
The report is also expected to say that some Jewish patients reported not wanting to present to the NHS for treatment or putting off receiving important care, amid concerns around antisemitism.
The government said reforms it now intends to make in light of the review will "will benefit everyone who experiences hatred or abuse in the health service", not just victims of antisemitism.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said a new staff standard will be put in place setting minimum expectations for how organisations must prevent and respond to incidents of racism.
Lord Mann said: "Jewish people have to be confident that they will receive the same treatment as everyone else, at all times in all situations.
"If people feel, as they do, that some have to hide their identity as patients or suffer in silence as staff, then the universality of the NHS is fundamentally breached.
"The solutions are simple but require a consistency of approach across the whole of the NHS and clear leadership at the top and across all NHS trusts.
"The NHS as an employer must act as a responsible and inclusive employer and take the responsibility of making its employment and service to patients one that the entirety of the country, including our Jewish community, can feel and see is one that is for them as well as everybody else."
Mandatory training on equality, diversity and human rights which is already in place for 1.5 million staff, will be updated to include "quality-assured content" on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hostility, the department added.
In a separate review published in July 2025, Lord Mann and former Conservative minister Dame Penny Mordaunt warned of rising antisemitism across British society, including a “specific unaddressed issue” within the NHS.
The Health Secretary, James Murray, said: "Lord John Mann has made a series of robust and practical recommendations which we are accepting.
"I know that Jewish people, and everyone experiencing discrimination, need action, not words.
"Together with NHS England, we will waste no time in setting these recommendations in motion to build a health service that lives up to its values.
"The NHS Alliance, which represents NHS trusts, said it would work with members “to support them to implement (the recommendations) in their organisations."
Director Rebecca Gray added: "Everyone deserves to feel that they belong in our society and we must work towards taking a zero-tolerance approach to prejudice in all its forms."
Dean Royles, interim chief executive of NHS Employers, said the review "reveals beyond any doubt that antisemitism and others forms of racism in the NHS are rising".
He added: "Employers and NHS leaders know that good employment practices and expectations around behaviour are paramount and will take on the recommendations and feedback from the review."