A leading member of hospital staff has said "racism is increasing" while Newcastle Hospitals chief Dame Jackie Daniel has warned her organisation "has a long way still to go" when it comes to staff equality across race, disability and sexuality.
Odeth Richardson is the co-chair of the hospital trust's race equality network. This week she said that "the experience of black and brown staff remains poor" at the trust - adding that staff had experienced an increase in "racist actions" from colleagues and "racism from patients to staff".
Representatives from the ENABLED staff network also spoke out about the "frequent and familiar concerns" among staff that "their disability is not understood". Dame Jackie made the comments in her online blog, and said she was pleased to be able to use the platform to allow representatives from the groups to share their perspective.
