The British Medical Association’s chairman of the board has said the NHS is ‘riddled with racism’ following the results of a survey into doctors’ experiences.

The survey found that at least 75% of ethnic minority doctors had experienced racism more than once in the past two years and 17.4% had regularly experienced racism at work.

Speaking to BBC BMA chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: ‘It is a moral right for anyone who works for the NHS to be treated fairly.

NHS Primary Care Medical Director Dr Nikki Kanani responded by telling the broadcaster that racism and discrimination of any kind “should not be tolerated by anyone”.

“While our latest report on gender equality [in 2020] shows that we have made progress in some areas of the NHS, it is totally unacceptable for anyone to experience racism, discrimination or prejudice at work, and NHS organizations should continue to take a zero tolerance approach to anyone and everyone. form of discrimination,” she said.

The survey provided to the BBC of more than 2,000 people found that around 40% of NHS doctors are from minority backgrounds.

More than 70% of those who have encountered racism at work have not complained about it.

Nearly 20% said they had considered quitting their job or quit their job in the past two years because of racism.

Nearly 60% said racism at work had impacted their mental health and well-being, and 20% said they had experienced racism from patients.