The racist and violent riots in the summer across parts of the UK have had a huge impact on communities and NHS staff. Journalist Anna Scott reports on the importance of reflecting on what happened and understanding how everyone can move forward together.
‘Civil unrest and groundswell of hate’ is how the NHS described the racist and Islamophobic riots that spread quickly around England and Northern Ireland from 30 July to 7 August (NHS England, 2024). An estimated 29 anti-immigration demonstrations and riots – many violent – took place in 27 towns and cities, with rioters attacking mosques, Asian-owned businesses and hotels housing asylum seekers (Downs, 2024).
The riots escalated quickly. Following the arrest and charging of a British 17-year-old for the murders of three children and attempted murders of 10 people in Southport, England, on 29 July, misinformation spread rapidly on social media that the suspect was an Islamist migrant (Reuters, 2024). On 30 July in Southport, after a vigil for the victims, violent anti-Muslim protestors attempted to attack the town’s mosque (Reuters, 2024).
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
Over the following week, violent protests spread around the country, with discussions taking place on anti-immigration channels on the Telegram messaging app. While there was no single organising force at work, analysis of mainstream social media and small public groups shows a clear pattern of influencers driving a message for people to gather for protests (BBC, 2024a). Influencers with large followings posted inflammatory remarks, including X.com owner Elon Musk, Reform MP Nigel Farage, and founder of the English Defence League Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Institute of Development Studies (IDS), 2024).
Austerity and the ‘normalisation of anti-migration rhetoric’, fuelled by misinformation, have been cited as behind the escalation of the riots (IDS, 2024). But the events also had structural causes, with riots taking place in seven out of the 10 most deprived areas in the UK (IDS, 2024). Wealth inequality, particularly affecting younger generations, was a factor, and while many young people took part in anti racist counter demonstrations, some joined in the riots (IDS, 2024). The youngest person to be charged was 11 (BBC, 2024b).
‘Disenfranchised members of society were seeking an excuse to direct their anger at others,’ says Hannah Wilson, co-founder and director of Diverse Educators, a diversity, equity and inclusion training company working with schools. ‘The media and social media need to take responsibility for their contribution to inciting violence and hate towards marginalised people.’
‘PEOPLE FEEL UNSAFE.
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN
RE-TRAUMATISED. PEOPLE
ARE QUESTIONING THEIR
PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY, IN
OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM’
THE COMMUNITY IMPACT
At the time, the NHS Race and Health Observatory (NHSRHO) stated that the racist violence and prejudice is ‘causing real fear, trauma and anxiety in our communities and amongst our diverse workforce’ (NHSRHO, 2024). Anti-racism charity the Anthony Walker Foundation received referrals for support from more than 300 people affected by race and religious hate in the two weeks after the riots, up from a normal level of 50 referrals a week (Reuters, 2024).
‘I know from my own trust and from colleagues across other trusts that some of their clients felt anxious,’ says Janet Taylor, CPHVA Executive chair and nurse manager, children’s services, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland.
‘They wanted to reschedule appointments because they felt safer at home. If they’d made plans with their children, for example, they’d keep them at home. They felt afraid,’ Janet says. ‘Certainly health visitors continued to visit clients at home.’
| 6,000+ public order officers deployed over one day alone |
| 1280 people arrested |
| 796 people charged |
| 310 counts of violent disorder (the most common charge) |
| 51 counts of harassment, alarm or distress |
| 42 accounts of assaulting an emergency worker |
| 100+ police officers injured |
Indeed the riots have had a huge affect on Black and Asian, and migrant NHS staff. Reports came of rioters in Sunderland throwing rocks at taxis that were taking Filipino NHS nurses to work – they had been called in as emergency cover because of the increasing violence (Armstrong, 2024).
The events made ‘people very afraid’, continues Janet ‘Some nurses said they had worked in Northern Ireland for several years and now felt unsafe. One said she was considering going back home again.’
It’s not yet certain if anyone has left the UK because of the riots, but Janet says she has heard of NHS staff moving house. ‘People have had things spray-painted on their doors and houses.’
Nearly two months after the riots, individuals and communities remain hugely affected, says Hannah. ‘People feel unsafe. People have been re-traumatised. People are questioning their place in our country, in our school system,’ she adds. While some of the tension might have been defused now the riots are over, ‘there’s still an underlying concern’, Janet says. ‘Because it happened very quickly.’
SUPPORT GIVEN
NHS England instigated long-term organisational measures in response to the riots, including ensuring that staff have access to support. The national body involved staff networks in organisational responses, and reiterated the right to refuse treatment to people demonstrating racial discrimination or harassment towards staff (NHS England, 2024).
On a more individual level, at the time, staff were offered taxis to and from work and flexibility in their working hours, among other measures. ‘We were allowed two weeks’ sick [leave and pay], accelerated access to counselling and mental health support, temporary reasonable adjustments in the workplace,’ says one Unite member. ‘Stress assessments and security reviews [were available] for concerned staff.’
Another employee working in an NHS clinic, who wishes to remain anonymous, adds: ‘We were allowed to shut the clinic doors, and services closed three hours early to allow staff to get home safely, as we are very close to Walthamstow where a massive protest march took place.’ Different trusts also organised all-staff sessions for people to talk about how they felt, and on tackling Islamophobia, xenophobia and antisemitism.
‘WE NEED TO REBUILD
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
AND TAKE A TRAUMA
INFORMED APPROACH
TO OUR WORK’
RACISM WITHIN THE NHS?
Many support measures were just offered ‘over those very intense periods of time’, Janet says, and generally she believes the NHS did as much as possible to support staff. Her own trust held its annual welcome and celebratory day in August for employees from overseas and invited their families to attend. Held after the riots had died down, the event was very successful despite what had happened.
But racism within the NHS remains an issue. In September, a report found that temporary workers were being discriminated against by some staff, organisations, and national bodies because of their working status, and – in some cases – because of their ethnicity (Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), 2024).
Staff from ethnic minority backgrounds face known barriers to speaking up because of their ethnicity (HSSIB, 2024).
‘Urgent action is needed now to tackle the unacceptable levels of racism, bias and discrimination at work experienced by temporary employees from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds,’ says Habib Naqvi, chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory.
‘As the biggest employer of Black and ethnic minority staff in Europe, the NHS must implement evidence-based, anti-racism approaches that empower leadership and enhance data-driven accountability for tackling the root causes of these inequalities,’ Dr Naqvi adds.
In responding to the riots, NHS England highlighted its ‘robust and proactive approach to applying local disciplinary policies where staff are involved in discriminatory behaviour, inside or outside of work’ (NHS England, 2024). But it’s unclear if any new measures have been put in place to address racism among the NHS workforce.
An NHS England spokesperson says: ‘Following the disgusting violence in the summer, the NHS provided guidance… on how to provide support to staff targeted or affected by racial abuse, as well as how to deal with perpetrators of that abuse. A range of help is available to staff, including access to 24/7 confidential support services and a variety of health and wellbeing resources online.’
‘THE NHS MUST IMPLEMENT
EVIDENCE-BASED, ANTI
RACISM APPROACHES THAT
EMPOWER LEADERSHIP’
MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER
Diverse Educators is offering virtual training sessions to the Royal College of Nursing members, and Hannah Wilson from Diverse Educators believes training is key. ‘We need to grow consciousness, build confidence, and develop competence around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging,’ she says. To prevent the riots happening again, society ‘needs to take a stand. We need to educate. We need to develop empathy.’
| RESOURCES |
| > A blog from Diverse Educators on the aftermath of the race riots |
| > NHS England resource: Combatting racial discrimination against minority ethnic nurses, midwives and nursing associates |
| > The hypocrisy at the heart of racist riots by associate professor in psychology and inclusion, Nilufar Ahmed |
For communities and healthcare professionals, tackling racism in everyday life and health settings is key. ‘From a trade union and an [NHS] trust point of view, we would encourage people to challenge [racist and discriminatory] comments,’ Janet says. ‘Education, schools, communities, workplaces. There must be a whole community approach.’
Listening to people of colour, all ethnic minorities, and people who have migrated to the UK is crucial too. ‘[There are] Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups of people very focused on tackling this,’ Janet says. ‘We need to come together and support them and affect change together.’
Hannah agrees: ‘We need to be allies, stand up, speak out and show up in solidarity. It does not have to happen to us, to matter to us.’ She says school nurses and health visitors should check in with parents, families and children. ‘We need to rebuild psychological safety and take a trauma informed approach to our work,’ she adds.
Community practitioners can offer practical advice to anxious clients too. ‘We can listen, support and direct to local organisations that may be offering further help and support,’ Janet says. ‘We can connect people, we can signpost.’
TIME FOR CHANGE
As time has gone on, the British public has become more supportive of the government’s response to the riots. More than half (57%) polled said the legal system has done a good job dealing with the situation, compared to 27% at the time (YouGov, 2024). And 63% said the police handled the riots well, compared to 52% at the time (YouGov, 2024).
But to avoid something similar happening again, racism within society must be viewed as ‘absolutely intolerable’, as the NHSRHO said in its response to the riots. ‘It is also during these difficult times that we must remind ourselves of the many kind, compassionate and caring people in our country, particularly the active anti-racists,’ (NHSRHO, 2024). They ‘know that we all must unite together to challenge and reject racist behaviour in all its forms.’
REALITY OF THE RIOTS
Unite members working in the NHS give their account of how it felt at the time.
Member 1
‘It was quite a frightening experience, especially for staff using public transport. Some members shared cars. There were text messages being shared of people [saying that] they had been attacked. This [created] more fear. Overall it was very worrying and difficult time. [It] felt like Covid was back because we all stayed home out of fear.’
Member 2
‘Our students were not allowed on placement with us because we work in the community, so they lost important placement time. They were very scared, and I worry that this will influence their decision not to choose community nursing when they qualify.’
Member 3
‘There was a sudden upsurge in staff using body worn cameras. Just wish they’d use them more often!’
HOW HAVE YOU BEEN AFFECTED?
To share your experiences or your thoughts on reaching better times ahead, please email editor Aviva Attias aviva@communitypractitioner.co.uk
REFERENCES
Armstrong J. (2024) Sunderland rioters throw rocks at Filipino NHS nurses on way to work as emergency cover. See: mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sunderland-rioters-throw-rocks-filipino-33391948 (accessed 10 October 2024).
BBC. (2024a) Why are there riots in the UK? See: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg55we5n3xo (accessed 10 October 2024).
BBC. (2024b) Who are the rioters and what jail sentences have they received? See: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm23y7l01v8o (accessed 10 October 2024).
Downs W. (2024) Policing response to the 2024 summer riots. See: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/policing-response-to-the-2024-summer-riots/ (accessed 10 October 2024).
Health Services Safety Investigations Board. (2024) Workforce and patient safety: temporary staff – integration into healthcare providers. See: hssib.org.uk/patient-safety-investigations/workforce-and-patient-safety/third-investigation-report/ (accessed 10 October 2024).
Home Office. (2024) Home Secretary statement on disorder. See: bit.ly/3NjsFhC (accessed 10 October 2024).
Institute of Development Studies. (2024) The UK riots and the role of young people in the global struggle for democracy. See: ids.ac.uk/opinions/the-uk-riots-and-the-role-of-young-people-in-the-global-struggle-for-democracy/ (accessed 10 October 2024).
NHS England. (2024) NHS Response to 2024 riots. See: england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-response-to-2024-riots/ (accessed 10 October 2024).
NHSRHO. (2024) Open statement in response to racist and violent protests. See: nhsrho.org/news/open-statement-in-response-to-racist-and-violent-protests (accessed 10 October 2024).
Reuters. (2024) For Black Britons, UK riots leave lasting scars. See: reuters.com/world/uk/black-britons-uk-riots-leave-lasting-scars-2024-08-19/ (accessed 10 October 2024).
YouGov. (2024) How do Britons feel the 2024 riots were handled? See: yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/50375-how-do-britons-feel-the-2024-riots-were-handled (accessed 10 October 2024).
Image | Adobe Stock
