A third of black or minority ethnic Walsall Manor Hospital staff say they were bullied or harassed by colleagues

Walsall's NHS trust was the worst performing in the region in terms of equality, according to the results of the latest NHS staff survey.

Some 35 per cent of 259 BAME workers said they had suffered harassment, bullying or abuse from colleagues compared to 29 per cent of 954 white staff.

One fifth, or 20 per cent, of the BAME workers said they had experienced discrimination from bosses or colleagues compared to 6.7 per cent of the white staff who responded.

Only 63 per cent of BAME staff surveyed in Walsall said they believed there were equal opportunities at the trust.

Meanwhile, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the Manor, was ranked fourth in the country in terms of the likelihood of white candidates being given jobs over BAME candidates.

Walsall trust chief executive Richard Beeken said in the latest trust board report the results of the survey were a "huge disappointment".

He added said: "We must investigate, we must not and will not, ignore this concerning evidence of our colleagues’ perception of us as an employer of choice, a healthcare provider of choice and an organisation which treats people inclusively and with no discrimination.

"This therefore brings into even sharper focus, the work of the improvement programme work stream on valuing colleagues, including key work on equality and diversity, leadership development and a just culture."

Catherine Griffiths, Director of people and culture for the Walsall trust, said “This is something that is very hard to hear and see. We are very clear as a trust board that discrimination simply cannot exist alongside the trust values; the organisational culture cannot be said to be a healthy one unless equality and inclusion is the experience of our staff and patients and it is evidenced."

Results were similar at the Dudley Group NHS Trust, which runs Russells Hall and was rocked by a bullying scandal in 2018, over which bosses were eventually cleared.

There 33 per cent of 282 BAME workers said they had suffered harassment, bullying or abuse from colleagues compared to 28.4 per cent of 1,632 white staff.

Meanwhile, 17 per cent, of the BAME workers said they had experienced discrimination from bosses or colleagues compared to 6.3 per cent of the white staff who responded.

Some 67 per cent of 177 BAME staff surveyed in Walsall said they believed there were equal opportunities at the trust.

Dudley Group chief executive Diane Wake said: "Improving the working lives and experiences of our staff is a priority for all across the trust. It is clear that we need to do more for those people who are BAME and over the coming months we will be forming BAME network groups, as well as LGBT+ and disability groups, which are led by staff to work together to identify ways to move forward and improve their work experience.

"Since the previous National Staff Survey in 2018, we launched our Behaviour Framework and Dudley People Plan which focus on how we live out our values of care, respect and responsibility. We have also seen over 120 managers complete training which clearly promotes compassionate leadership as the key to having an inclusive and diverse workforce."

At the Wolverhampton and Sandwell NHS trusts, which run New Cross and Sandwell Hospital, 27 per cent of BAME staff reported suffering harassment, bullying or abuse from colleagues.

The figure for discrimination was 12 per cent for Wolverhampton and 13 per cent for Sandwell. More BAME workers also believe there are equal opportunities at the two trusts - 75 per cent at Wolverhampton and 71 per cent at Sandwell.