Muslim staff in the NHS reported feeling unsafe and facing abuse since the start of far-right riots in the UK, which has had a knock on effect on patient care.

Muslim workers in the National Health Service (NHS) have reported a surge in abuse and racism since the start of the far-right riots in the UK last week, hindering their ability to provide effective care, a British Muslim medical body has told The New Arab.

Muslim medical staff across the UK have been targeted in their personal and professional spaces, forcing them to close practices early, avoid certain routes home, and feel unsafe when travelling to work.

Dr Sahira Dar, the vice president of the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) said health workers have been on the receiving end of racial slurs and serious threats.

“There are lots of stories being shared about things that are happening in different localities, and we’re hearing of GP practices that have had to close early out of fear for their staff, some staff are also working remotely,” she told TNA.

“There’s been an incident of someone randomly walking into a GP practice shouting ‘kill this Muslim man’…people are very understandably extremely afraid,” she added.

Dozens of far-right riots spread across the UK after misinformation over the identity of a perpetrator of a Southport attack which killed three girls spread.

Social media was awash with false information suggesting the attacker was Muslim or an immigrant, triggering a wave of violent anger and mob riots across the country.

Impact on access to healthcare

According to Dr Dar, the far-right abuse has not just affected Muslim staff, but people of color (POC) staff more generally.

“It is affecting people that share characteristics with Muslims, and people are afraid of being attacked at work, including Hindu and Sikh staff,” she said.

It has had a knock-on effect on patients, as more doctors were forced to stay home during the riots, despite others still going in while afraid.

“Because of staff shortages and various other things, the NHS is already under a lot of stress, and now we have staff fearing for their lives…some patients will now not be able to access healthcare and we know that ethnic minorities, marginalized communities, asylum seekers, refugees are affected greatly by health inequalities and access to health,” she added, saying the full extent of the consequences of healthcare will be seen in the coming weeks and months.

Other medical organizations have also reported a skyrocket in abuse, raising alar over the impact it was having on the medical sector.

The London ambulance service on Monday said staff were reporting an “increase in racial abuse and hostility from a small minority”.

According to the Guardian, the British Egyptian Medical Association (BEMA) said it observed a “troubling increase in fear of racist abuse and discrimination” among the 11,000 doctors, dentists and pharmacists it represents.

The association said the abuse hindered their ability to provide proper care to patients, particularly as some staff were forced to work remotely or could not do home visits.

Dr Dar told TNA there had been a “mixed response” around the country to the riots and abuse against Muslim medical staff.

“It’s really important for our NHS leadership to call it what it is, and use precise language because that helps with the support element of it. We have asked for certain organizations to correct their statements and call these attacks Islamophobic because that is what they are. We have had a positive response to this campaign” she said, noting one institution issued a correction and called the attacks ‘Islamophobic’ following a request from BIMA.

She also urged the media and the British government to be “very careful” of the language that they use and be responsible when reporting information.

This week, chief executive of NHS England addressed the rising concerns and feelings of unsafety among Muslim NHS workers.

“We shouldn’t let dedication to duty disguise the fact that for many NHS workers, seeing this flare-up of racism will leave them feeling afraid and unwelcome,” Amanda Pritchard said.

Source: Arab News