NHS nurse ‘given Nazi salute’ after colleague learned she was Jewish among series of anti-Semitism allegations in health service
Jewish patients and staff in the health service have been the target of anti-Semitic abuse, an investigation has revealed
A nurse was given a Nazi salute by an NHS colleague after he discovered she was Jewish, an investigation has claimed.
Listen to this article
The case is among a series of allegations of anti-Semitic abuse involving Jewish patients and staff in the health service, detailed in a new documentary by the Campaign Against Antisemitism.
Registered nurse Shelley Lipman said a colleague made the gesture after asking about Hebrew calligraphy tattooed on her arm.
She said: “I just felt like my jaw dropped for what felt like an hour. I was just absolutely gobsmacked.”
Ms Lipman said she confronted the colleague, telling him: “That is the Nazi salute. That is Hitler.”
She said he replied: “Yeah.”
She added that the member of staff remains employed at the hospital.
The documentary, called Malignant: Anti-Semitism in the NHS, also includes claims from a Jewish cancer patient who alleged a surgeon made anti-Semitic comments while removing a growth from his forehead under local anaesthetic.
Saul Freeman, from Sheffield, said he feared for his safety as the consultant allegedly claimed Jews killed Palestinian children “for fun”.
He alleged the consultant claimed Jews shot children “in the head or the legs”, varying it “for their own amusement each day”, and said Jewish people “should know better” because of persecution in Europe.
He complained to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which said it could not provide details of employment investigations or outcomes involving individual staff members.
Jane McNicholas, Chief Medical Officer at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:
"Mr Freeman has raised his concerns with us and we are reviewing these as a matter of urgency. We take any allegations of this nature very seriously and will respond accordingly based on the findings of the review."
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said polling of 4,490 people in Britain’s Jewish community found nearly two-thirds feared they could receive unequal NHS treatment because of their identity.
More than four in 10 Jewish respondents who had used the NHS since the 7 October attacks said they had concealed their identity during appointments, the group said.
Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said the group’s documentary had exposed what he called an “anti-Semitic rot at the heart of our NHS”.
He said patients relied on the health service at their most vulnerable, warning of a “growing extremist culture within healthcare”, failures in regulation and a lack of transparency.
Mr Falter also criticised what he described as a “total absence of accountability”.
“We cannot accept politicians pointing to past reviews and recommendations,” he said. “We need real and robust action now. Practitioners, trusts, regulators and others must all act.”
He said some Jewish people felt forced to hide their identity for fear of “unequal treatment or abuse”.
“As long as that is the case,” he added, “the NHS cannot be said to be for everyone.”
The findings come after ministers accepted recommendations in June for mandatory anti-Semitism training and tighter rules around political symbols in healthcare settings.