The NHS is “riddled with racism,” doctors’ union the British Medical Association warned today.

Chair of the union’s council Dr Chaand Nagpaul said the issue was widespread and affected both patients’ and doctors’ wellbeing by “stopping talented people from progressing fairly and affecting doctors’ mental health.”

“This is about a moral right for anyone who works for the NHS to be treated fairly,” he stressed.

His comments came after the results of the union’s latest survey, shared with the BBC, revealed that at least three-quarters of ethnic minority doctors have experienced racism more than once in the last two years.

Nearly a fifth of the more than 2,000 respondents across Britain said they regularly faced racism at work.

About 40 per cent of the NHS’s 123,000 doctors are from minority backgrounds, compared with just under 14 per cent of the general population.

But despite this greater diversity, workers told the BBC that there was a toxic “us versus them” culture in trusts nationwide. 

Many reported having to deal with “bogus or disproportionate” complaints from colleagues, racist comments from bosses and even physical assault when working.

More than seven in 10 of those experiencing racism did not report it, while some of those who did said their complaints were ignored or dismissed without investigation.

NHS England said it took a “zero-tolerance approach” to racism, while the health service’s medical care director Dr Nikki Kanani said discrimination of any kind “should not be tolerated by anyone.”

“While our latest equality report shows that we have made progress, it is completely unacceptable for anyone to experience racism, discrimination or prejudice at work, and NHS organisations should continue to take a zero-tolerance approach.”