Reports of Racism at Noble's Hospital

Summary

A request was made for data on racism incidents, complaint procedures, and staff ethnicity at Noble's Hospital from 2011 to 2020. The Department of Health and Social Care disclosed annual incident counts, detailed their disciplinary and training policies, and provided a breakdown of staff ethnicity based on voluntary self-declaration.

Key Facts

• Total reported racism incidents between 2011 and July 2020 were 10.
• Most incidents involved patients making racist comments or being abusive towards staff.
• Staff ethnicity data is voluntary, with 471 employees withholding their ethnic origin.
• The department uses the 'Equality & Diversity Essentials' online training course for all staff.
• Complaints are handled via internal procedures, the Fairness at Work Policy, or Whistleblowing Policy depending on the source.

Data Disclosed

• 2011: 2 incidents
• 2014: 1 incident
• 2016: 1 incident
• 2017: 1 incident
• 2018: 3 incidents
• 2019: 1 incident
• 2020 (until 13/07): 1 incident
• Total staff with ethnicity data: 1970
• Staff withholding ethnicity: 471
• White - British staff: 155
• Asian - Any other Asian background: 14
• Black - African staff: 5
• Reference number: 1359641
• Date received: 2020-07-09
• Outcome date: 2020-08-03

Original Request

Question 1: Could you advise how many incidents or complaints of racism/racial discrimination or inappropriate racial bias have been reported by hospital staff since 2011, per annum to present? This includes staff on staff, staff on patient and patient on staff. Question 2: Could you disclose your procedure for dealing with such complaints and what resulting action follows. Additionally what anti-racist training and follow up policies are currently in place? Question 3: As of 2020 could you provide a full breakdown of the number of employees at Nobles Hospital and their race?

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

Interim Chief Executive: Kathryn Magson Freedom of Information Team Crookall House Demesne Road Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3QA

Tel: (01624) 642621 Email: dhsc@foi.gov.im Website: www.gov.im/dhsc

Our ref: 1359641 31st July 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on the 9th July 2020 and states: “Question 1: Could you advise how many incidents or complaints of racism/racial discrimination or inappropriate racial bias have been reported by hospital staff since 2011, per annum to present? This includes staff on staff, staff on patient and patient on staff. Question 2: Could you disclose your procedure for dealing with such complaints and what resulting action follows. Additionally what anti-racist training and follow up policies are currently in place? Question 3: As of 2020 could you provide a full breakdown of the number of employees at Nobles Hospital and their race?” Response to your request:

Question 1: Could you advise how many incidents or complaints of racism/racial discrimination or inappropriate racial bias have been reported by hospital staff since 2011, per annum to present? This includes staff on staff, staff on patient and patient on staff.

The information is shown on the table below: Year Total Reason 2011 2 Staff complaining about patient making racist comments x 2 2012 0 2013 0 2014 1 Staff complaining about a patient making a comment about a staff member 2015 0 2016 1 Staff complaining about a patient being racially abusive 2017 1 Staff complaining about a patient being abusive and racist 2018 3 Staff reporting patient being verbally abusive x2 Staff reporting patient being aggressive 2019 1 Staff member made racist comments to a member of staff 2020 (Until 13/07/2020) 1 Staff member complaining about a patient making a comment about a staff member Question 2: Could you disclose your procedure for dealing with such complaints and what resulting action follows. Additionally what anti-racist training and follow up policies are currently in place? Complaints may be dealt with in a number of ways depending on the source, who the allegation has been made against and the specific nature of the allegation. • When a complaint is made by someone internally the Department’s complaints procedure is followed. • When a complaint is made by someone external to the Department, the Isle of Man Fairness at Work Policy and Guidance, and the Whistleblowing Policy is followed.
• If the complaint concerns a member of staff, the relevant discipline or grievance procedure for the staff group concerned is followed. The details of these policies and procedures are available via the link below and the actions available are detailed within each policy: https://hr.gov.im/policies-procedures-codes-guidance-and-forms/ Available for all Department staff is an Equality & Diversity Essentials online training course which ensures that our workforce considers the impact of discrimination, harassment or victimisation. This details all of the characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2017. This approach ensures that we meet the needs of both our diverse workforce and service users.

The policies that are in place linked to this training are the Fairness at Work Policy & Disciplinary & Grievance Procedures. Which can be found by following the link below: https://hr.gov.im/fairness-at-work/fairness-training-and-resources/ Question 3: As of 2020 could you provide a full breakdown of the number of employees at Nobles Hospital and their race? Staff are requested to provide information relating to their ethnicity but cannot be compelled to do so. The staff who have provided information on their ethnicity are listed in the table below. Ethnic Origin Male Female Gender withheld Number of Employees

Withheld 471 1494 5 1970 Asian - Any other Asian background 4 10 0 14 Asian - Bangladeshi 0 1 0 1 Asian - Chinese 1 0 0 1 Asian - Indian 5 0 0 5 Asian - Pakistani 5 0 0 5 Black - African 4 1 0 5 Black - Caribbean 0 1 0 1 Mixed - White and Asian 0 1 0 1 Other - Any other background 0 2 0 2 Prefer not to say 0 1 0 1 White - Any other White background 2 11 0 13 White - British 43 112 0 155 White - Irish 3 7 0 10 Please quote the reference number 1359641 in any future communications.

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I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours faithfully