East of England Ambulance Service report results reveal risks of 'institutional culture of racism'

Being asked to translate "gobbledygook", others mimicking monkey sounds and donning blackface at a work fancy dress party are among the incidents staff at the region's ambulance service have witnessed.

It comes after the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) commissioned a specialist equality, diversity and inclusion consultancy to put together a report on the experiences of its Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff last year.

And McKenzie LLP, who undertook the research and consultation project, concluded that the results indicated risks that a "historic and institutional culture of racism may exist within EEAST".

During August to October of last year, all BME staff at EEAST, which covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex, were invited to complete an anonymous survey; join a confidential focus/discussion group; and have a confidential one-to-one telephone interview with a consultant.

A total of 58 of the 120 selected employees answered the survey - a 48% response rate, and 26 staff members also took part in a one-to-one confidential telephone interview.

The report highlights staff members' own experiences within the workforce.

One said that "assumptions are made based on the colour of your skin", with one example being when they were asked to translate for someone speaking Arabic.

"The reason for the request was that 'I look like one of them'. I don't even speak Asian - never mind Arabic," they added.

Another told of a similar incident and said: "I was asked ‘can you speak to them as they speak gobbledygook?'.

"The person that the manager was referring to spoke Punjabi - not a language I actually speak.

"It is just assumed that if you are ‘of colour’, you all come from the same place and speak the same language.”

A Muslim staff member recalled how people "openly joked" in front of groups of other colleagues about eating food in front of them during Ramadan, when they could not eat or drink for 18 hours of the days.

Another employee told of how someone wore blackface to a work party.

"Complaints and issues are dismissed in the sense that the trust minimises and locks things away," they said.

"An example of this is when I had made a complaint about a manager whose husband had coloured himself black and dressed as Mr T for an EEAST fancy dress party. Nothing was done.”

A staff member also recounted staff mimicking a "monkey sound" when they were talking about an Asian doctor.

And others said they felt there was no way for BME staff to progress within EEAST.

"I would not even bother to attempt to go for promotion as if I did it would be seen as a box ticking exercise," one person said.

"Anyway, no one would respect me. I know of just one BME station manager in EEAST and there are hundreds of station managers.”

Another said: "There is no visible career progression for BME staff. That needs to change.”

The report also mentioned several instances of employees who felt that older members of staff needed to "unlearn old-fashioned and out of date behaviours".

In its conclusion, McKenzie LLP said that, while there were many references to an "old school" cohort in EEAST old-fashioned values, it remained "unconvinced" that older workers were the root cause of the entire situation within EEAST.

"We believe the findings of this exercise could be symptomatic of a more general underlying and unchallenged culture of xenophobia (aversion to difference) within some ‘pockets’ of trust employees," it added.

The consultants also made a number of recommendations to the trust, including that it provide mandatory inclusive Language and Dignity at Work training for all staff, and develop an enhanced system for reporting issues.

The report's author, deputy director of culture and leadership Lauren Singleton, said the content of the survey made for "difficult reading".

"There is evidence of very outdated behaviours and attitudes among a minority of managers," she said.

"There could be a negative impact on the trust’s reputation as a safe and positive place to work, which might be perceived to undermine the good work done around the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and CQC in recent months."

EEAST's CEO Tom Abell has since apologised to staff who experienced the "inappropriate behaviour" and said the behaviour would be "eradicated" from the trust.

"We commissioned this independent research to better understand the working lives of our colleagues. It shows that there are some instances of inappropriate behaviour at the trust and I am sorry to all of my colleagues who have experienced this.

“I am clear that behaviour like this has no place in our trust and will be eradicated."

Mr Abell said the trust had a wide-ranging plan to tackle the behaviour and make EEAST a more inclusive place to work.

"We have made good progress to improving our culture - as shown by our recent improved report from the Care Quality Commission," he added.

“We would like to thank everyone who participated in the research and colleagues who continue to call out this type of behaviour.”