Conference calls for sanctions and penalties to stamp out “institutional racism” in NHS

Regulators need to get tough on an “institutionally racist NHS” by imposing sanctions and penalties on trusts that fail to promote race equality for staff and patients and do not meet their statutory duties, the first national NHS black and minority ethnic conference has concluded.

A succession of damning reports in recent years, the most recent of which was published in April by the former health service regulator the Healthcare Commission, have all indicated that the NHS is dragging its feet on race equality (BMJ 2009;338:b1357, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1357).

In a series of on the spot electronic …