'Patients have tried to punch me because of my skin colour'

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. 'Patients have tried to punch me because of my skin colour'2 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleMartin LindsayNorth East and Cumbria Investigations BBCTito Vicario says when his hospital asks people to wear masks that also attracts abuse from patients who refuseThere has been a significant rise in reports of NHS staff being racially abused by patients, the has found. Workers say they are being physically and verbally attacked because of their ethnicity more often than ever. Nurse Tito Vicario says, in the two years he has worked at Sunderland Royal Hospital, he has been racially abused by patients multiple times.

"Whenever I feel like it's going to happen again I feel my heart racing," he says. The abuse is often verbal but, in extreme cases, he says he has been physically attacked. "There are times where some patients will try to punch you or slap you," he says.

The Details

"It affects you not just physically but mentally as well. "In one incident Vicario, who is originally from the Philippines, was on the receiving end of a highly offensive racial slur. The patient's mortified family immediately apologised but the damage had been done, Vicario says, and such experiences leave him feeling powerless, anxious and nervous.

On another occasion, he says he was racially abused by a female patient who refused to take medication from him. "They try to say these things to release their anger and anxiety but we're not punching bags, we're still people," he says. "You can't hit back, just smile.

"Tito Vicario says patients have tried to punch and kick him because of the colour of his skinThe submitted Freedom of Information requests to all NHS hospital and mental health trusts in England to ask how many times staff had reported being racially abused by a patient. From the 106 trusts which provided data, there were 8,235 such reports in 2024, a 17% increase on the 7,002 reports in 2023. Several trusts did not record reports of racism prior to 2023, meaning older comparison figures are not available, but campaigners claim the issue has been growing for several years.

What Experts Say

Staff being encouraged to report incidents could have contributed to some of the rise, however the total figure, which includes physical and non-physical incidents, could be higher because not all trusts provided data. The founder of the campaign group Equality 4 Black Nurses, Neomi Bennett, says a "really concerning" number of incidents go unreported. "In our research around 67% chose not to report," she says, adding that some health workers "don't trust the system to protect them".

"Some of the nurses that have approached us have ended up going to work in retail or into sales or something which is less risky than nursing," she says. Many foreign nurses had also returned to their home country "because they can't take it anymore".

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.