Senior NHS staff told to study 'white privilege' and 'not be defensive' in anti-racism blog

3 September 2021, 18:29 | Updated: 3 September 2021, 18:37

The blog post has been directed at white people on the NHS Leadership Academy's website.
The blog post has been directed at white people on the NHS Leadership Academy's website. Picture: Alamy

By Sophie Barnett

White people working in the NHS have been given "anti-racism" guidance in a blog post on the official health service's website, where they have been told to study their "white privilege" and "not be defensive".

The post on the NHS Leadership Academy website, named 'Dear white people in the UK', shares five tips directed solely at white people to help them be more inclusive in the workplace.

In the tips, published by Aishnine Benjamin, the equality, diversity and inclusion lead at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, white people are told "this isn't about you" and not to "take offence".

Her first piece of guidance says to "not be defensive", adding "everybody is at a disadvantage when our formal institutions perpetuate inequalities".

She then goes on to say that ignorance isn't an excuse, and that white people should "work on their empathy".

"Discrimination is dehumanisation and the only way to see a person as human is to empathise with them," she urged.

Read more: 'Welcome to our white town': Mural showing 15 white people branded 'racist'

Read more: White supremacist avoids jail after being told to read Jane Austen instead

Ethnic minority caller explains why she felt she had to try harder

Other suggestions penned by Ms Benjamin include being open to hearing what black and minority ethnic people are saying.

She said you would be hard pushed to find a black or Asian person that doesn’t have a personal story of racism.

The post initially singles out white people for the advice, but later moves onto addressing everyone and sharing racism research.

The nursing and midwifery lead also called out leaders, saying: "Diversity isn’t a fun to have it’s a must have."

Most people have reacted positively to the post, however it has come under fire by the former minister Sir John Hayes MP, who reportedly slammed the guide as "woke nonsense".

Earlier this year, a 264-page report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic disparities found overt racism persists in the country, particularly online, and more work still needs to be done.

Read more: 'Britain not rigged against ethnic minorities': landmark report sparks major backlash

Read more: Four police officers injured as anti-vaxx mob runs amok across London

Robert Jenrick brands UK 'successful multi-ethnic society'

The full report made 24 recommendations among other findings calling for key goals of building trust, promoting fairness, and achieving inclusivity for ethnic minorities to be achieved.

In the foreword of the full report, chair Dr Tony Sewell CBE said Britain is no longer a place "where the system is deliberately rigged against ethnic minorities."

"The impediments and disparities do exist, they are varied, and ironically very few of them are directly to do with racism," he writes.

"Too often ‘racism’ is the catch-all explanation, and can be simply implicitly accepted rather than explicitly examined.

"The foreword goes on to say the authors "do not deny" that racism is a "real force" in the UK.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Artist's impression of the new national biosecurity centre at Weybridge, Surrey

New centre to tackle 'risk of future pandemics' gets billion-pound investment

Screenings for cervical cancer save at least 2,000 lives each year in the UK

NHS to offer at-home cervical cancer screening test kits that 'could save 5,000 lives per year'

Zelensky visits 10 Downing Street for talks with Keir Starmer on Monday

Zelensky warns Putin could launch an attack on NATO 'within five years'

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt arriving at the F1 The Movie premiere in Leicester Square.

'Interview with the Vampire' co-stars Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise make 'surprise' public reunion after 24 years

The first Brits are arriving in the UK after being evacuated from Israel.

First Brits rescued from Israel touch down at Heathrow Airport as more to arrive in coming days

The president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) said professionals are in distress

Stretched mental health services leaving psychiatrists ‘in emotional and ethical distress’

Jobs will be created at warehouses in locations including Hull and Northampton

Amazon’s new UK warehouses to hire thousands as Starmer hails ‘win’ for Britain

Iran has launched an attack on a US military base.

Trump claims Israel and Iran have agreed 'complete and total ceasefire' in wake of Iranian strike on US air base

A Qatar Airways flight from Manchester was forced to divert earlier this evening

UK flight bound for Doha forced to turn back after Iran launches missiles at US air base in Qatar

Sir Keir Starmer will fly to the Hague today for crunch meetings against a backdrop of global volatility in the Middle East and Ukraine.

UK and NATO allies to include 'money spent on tackling small boats' to boost defence spending in bid to appease Trump

The

Thousands raised after family die in motorway crash - daughter, 8, is only survivor

Kate Shemirani, conspiracy theorist, anti-vaxxer and former nurse

Daughter of notorious conspiracy theorist died of cancer after 'falling for mother's theories', her brothers say

Emma Raducanu during a practice session during Eastbourne Open, where she is currently competing

Raducanu says Wimbledon 'did amazing job' after stalker tried to buy match tickets

Large fire engulfs the abandoned Hotspur Press mill building near Oxford Road in Central Manchester. Credit Milo Chandler/Alamy Live News

Major fire in Manchester city centre causes serious disruption

Notorious criminal John 'Goldfinger' Palmer was murdered at his home in Brentwood in Essex in 2015. His killer has never been found

Who killed John 'Goldfinger' Palmer? Police make fresh appeal 10 years after his death

An RAF flight has left Israel carrying 63 UK nationals and their dependents, as the UK government begins evacuating British citizens from the country amid ongoing attacks between Iran and Israel.

First RAF flight evacuates 63 Britons from Israel as Lammy confirms one UK national injured in Iran missile attacks