Jewish patients across England are hiding their identity from NHS staff, postponing treatment or deciding against seeking care altogether because antisemitism has become so routine within the health service that the principle of a universal NHS is now “fundamentally breached”, a government-ordered review has found.
Lord Mann, the government’s adviser on antisemitism, will publish his 60-page report on Thursday. It documents what he describes as “shocking examples of intimidation and abuse” inside hospitals and clinics, and concludes that Jewish people cannot be confident they will receive the same treatment as everyone else. Some patients have put off important care; others have chosen not to seek help at all.
Staff ‘suffer in silence’ as discrimination rises
The impact on Jewish staff is equally severe. The latest NHS staff survey shows that Jewish employees are the only religious group in the workforce who report growing discrimination by colleagues. Many feel compelled to “suffer in silence”, hiding their identity at work. Some have been so distressed that they are considering quitting the NHS altogether.
Lord Mann’s review warns that the climate of fear and ostracism threatens the very basis of the health service. “If people feel, as they do, that some have to hide their identity as patients or suffer in silence as staff, then the universality of the NHS is fundamentally breached,” he said.
The Community Security Trust (CST) has noted that antisemitic incidents are severely under-reported within the NHS, meaning the true scale of the problem — and its impact on Jewish patients and staff — is likely much larger than official figures suggest.
Separately, the Royal College of Nursing has condemned health leaders for allowing racism to “flourish”. Professor Nicola Ranger, the RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, said: “It’s absolutely essential that staff are safe at work, but the reality is racism in the NHS is on the rise, as is violence, aggression and sexual harassment. That these behaviours have become so normalised is alarming.” The RCN has highlighted a 78% increase in reported incidents of racial abuse against nursing staff between 2022 and 2025.
Report details: routine ostracism and broken trust
Lord Mann was commissioned by Wes Streeting — then health secretary — last year after reports emerged that several doctors had made comments displaying hatred of Jews. The review is the most comprehensive examination of antisemitism in the NHS to date, and it builds on earlier work by Lord Mann and Dame Penny Mordaunt, who cautioned about a rise in antisemitism in British society and identified a “specific unaddressed issue” within the NHS in a July 2025 review.
Among the findings: antisemitism is so rife that some Jewish patients have decided not to seek treatment or have delayed having important care, fearing they will not be treated properly. The report also highlights “shocking examples of intimidation and abuse” that have occurred within the health service.
A series of high-profile cases involving doctors underscores the severity of the problem. Manoj Sen, a surgeon with 25 years in the NHS, was struck off the medical register for making antisemitic comments on social media, including calling a Jewish man “circumcised vermin” and referencing Auschwitz. Mohammed Asif Munaf was also struck off for antisemitic behaviour. Another NHS doctor, Rahmeh Aladwan, is due to go on trial at Bristol Crown Court next year on charges of inviting support for Hamas — a proscribed organisation — stirring up racial hatred and using threatening and insulting words at a protest. She is alleged to have posted “free the world from Jewish supremacy” on social media, and to have posted that she did not condemn Hamas or its 7 October 2023 attack on Israel but did “condemn the existence of Israel”. Aladwan was suspended from the medical register for 15 months in November 2025 due to her online activity.
The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors in the UK, received 779 complaints of alleged antisemitism by UK doctors between October 2023 and December 2025, often about social media posts. Many complaints were against the same doctor. The GMC investigated 86 cases. As well as erasing Sen and Munaf from its register, it advised four other doctors about their behaviour, warned three others and sought “undertakings” from another. It is still examining 31 other cases. The GMC is undergoing an overhaul expected to lead to more doctors being struck off for racist or antisemitic behaviour, particularly on social media.
Some Jewish healthcare professionals feel the British Medical Association has not taken antisemitism seriously enough, according to sources cited in the review.
NHS actions: mandatory training, uniform restrictions and new standards
In response to Lord Mann’s findings, the NHS has committed to a series of measures described as an urgent priority. The chairs and chief executives of all 205 health trusts in England will undergo new mandatory training in anti-racism — including antisemitism — within the next six months. This training will be part of updated mandatory anti-racism training for all 1.5 million NHS staff.
NHS England will also review its uniform guidance to ensure patients and staff feel respected and free from any perception of bias. This will include restrictions on displaying political symbols on uniforms.
A new staff standard will be implemented, setting minimum expectations for how organisations must prevent, respond to, and learn from incidents of racism. The Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed the government will establish a single set of national guidance for employers to clearly define their responsibilities in tackling discrimination and provide examples of incidents requiring referral to regulators.
The moves will target all forms of racism and discrimination — including racism against black and ethnic minority staff and Islamophobia — not only antisemitism. Streeting, now the health secretary, last year said the NHS is bearing the brunt of Britain’s return to “ugly” 1970s and 1980s-style racism.
Rebecca Gray, a director at the NHS Alliance, said: “Since Lord Mann was commissioned to undertake this review, the experience of the Jewish community in this country has only worsened. The arson attack on a Hatzola ambulance station in Golders Green in April was the clearest sign yet of how growing antisemitism in our society has reached our health services. It is vital that Jewish staff and patients feel safe at work, are able to practise and seek treatment without fear of prejudice or abuse, and are provided with the respect and dignity we all deserve.”
In March 2026, four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green were set on fire, causing significant damage. While not officially declared terrorism, the incident is being investigated by Counter Terrorism Policing London due to the circumstances, and several arrests have been made.
Helen Morgan, the Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, welcomed the action to stop the spread of the “poison” of all forms of racism in the NHS.
