in Scotland last year.
BBC Scotland‘s short insert in BBC Breakfast show this morning reports on a survey by the Royal College of Nursing on racist incidents in the NHS and suggests the above figures for NHS Scotland.
It’s not covered by BBC Breakfast or on the websites of BBC Wales, Northern Ireland, nor for that matter, BBC Scotland with the implication then that it must be worse here.
The Guardian this morning helped with context and prompted our response:
Nurses across the UK reported 6,812 incidents last year in which they suffered racist abuse, NHS figures show, a big rise on the 3,652 incidents recorded in 2022.1
The same 6 812 total is in the RCN briefing.2
For some reason, BBC Scotland and the Guardian have different data for considering increases, from 2024 to 2025 and 2022 to 2025. The RCN have not released the full research report and the media briefing2 has no breakdown for NHS Scotland so the BBC Scotland figures have presumably just been passed to them verbally by the RCN in Scotland and they’ve made a mistake.
What we can do is compare the 2025 totals for the UK and for NHS Scotland as reported by BBC Scotland and they tell a story neither BBC Scotland nor the RCN Scotland branch want to hear.
All things being equal and with around 12 times the population, you might expect the UK figure to be 12 times the Scottish figure of 230 – 2 760 but it was 6 810, more than TWICE as high!
Not for the first time, BBC Scotland only reports on a problem that, while important, is nevertheless, on the evidence, less so in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK.
Sources:
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/19/racist-abuse-nhs-nurses-jumps-rcn-figures
- https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-racism-allowed-to-flourish-in-nhs-says-rcn-190526
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The Guardian article on racist abuse within the NHS referred to in the main blog post notes a recent FOI ‘trawl’ by the BBC which uncovered even more staff reports of racist abuse in NHS England alone than the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been finding across the UK. The figures obtained by the BBC from 106 England trusts showed that the number of incidents reported increased from 7,002 in 2023 to 8,235 in 2024 – a 17% rise in a year.
The BBC News website had this headline on May 12, 2026: ‘Patients have tried to punch me because of my skin colour’. The article acknowledges that because NHS England staff are being encouraged to report incidents, this could have contributed to some of the rise. However, the total figure, which includes physical and non-physical incidents, could be higher still because not all NHS England trusts provided data.
Returning to the RCN’s research based on FOI responses from NHS trusts and health boards on prevalence of racist abuse, its General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger is quoted in a press statement: “These findings show a catastrophic rise in the racist abuse faced by nursing staff.’
Notably, Professor Ranger apportions blame: “We’re also continuing to criticise the use of anti-migrant rhetoric by politicians, which has helped to embolden racist behaviour. The Westminster government has made a bad situation worse by scapegoating migrant nursing staff, after changing the rules on Indefinite Leave to Remain. (my emphasis)
“Our colleagues are being let down by health leaders who are failing in their duty to keep them safe at work and by politicians who cynically play communities off each other for political gain.”
See https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/uk-racism-allowed-to-flourish-in-nhs-says-rcn-190526
This is not the first time the RCN has assigned explicitly a share of culpability for the levels of racist abuse being experienced by its members to politicians. It reminds me of a btl post on TuS from February 9, 2026 regarding problems with nursing and care staff recruitment and retention that are being linked to the policies of government in Westminster. It highlighted the following.
From an RCN press release (May 12, 2025): ‘The leader of the UK’s largest nursing union … has condemned the government’s proposed immigration measures as ‘pandering and scapegoating’. In a conference speech, RCN General Secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Many of you in this hall today started your nursing journey far away. So let me say again: you are more than welcome in the UK. Thank you for bringing your skills to this country and bringing your lives here. You know, more than I ever will, the obstacles, costs and the hostility.
“But look at the Home Secretary and Prime Minister. The UK is so reliant on overseas colleagues, especially in social care. The government has no plan to grow a domestic workforce. This is about politics – pandering and scapegoating. It should be about people.”
UK government complicity in creating a more hostile environment for migrants and racial minorities is being acknowledged here by the RCN. It begs important questions: which political party, which political leader, has always echoed the RCN General Secretary’s positive remarks regarding migrants making contributions to this country – ‘you are more than welcome’? Which never resorts to ‘anti-migrant rhetoric‘? Which also rejects such ‘pandering and scapegoating’? Consistently, it’s the governing party and successive FMs of Scotland!
We know that the gaslighting BBC Scotland would never publicly acknowledge these contrasting characteristics. But does the RCN leadership’s ingrained Unionism also prevent it from doing so, prevent it from acknowledging an ally?
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CLOSE DOWN THIS CORRUPT, SELFISH AND TOTALLY BIASED TO ALL OTHERS COUNTRIES IN THE UK
WE SCOTS DO NOT WANT OR NEED THIS SPONGING,CORRUPT POLITICAL COUNTRY
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