When Will the NHS Address its Under-Representation of White People?

It’s now apparently acceptable to accuse the Royal Family of being ‘terrible white’ or ‘too white’. In fact, it’s not only acceptable, but saying this makes one a courageous, outspoken hero for the BBC and the progressive Left. So, I assume it would also be acceptable for me to suggest that our beloved NHS may be ‘insufficiently white’.

Let me explain. Our collapsing NHS seems obsessed with hiring DIE (Diversity, Inclusion and Equality) managers. The apparent purpose of these wonderful people is (to quote just one of many similar job ads) “ensuring our workforce reflects the communities and patients we serve in order that we can meet the needs of our diverse communities”.

So, let’s do a quick check on how well current NHS staffing “reflects the communities and patients we serve”.

Of the NHS’s 1.3 million employees, 74.3% are white compared to 80.7% of the working-age population and 87.1% of the total population; 12.5% are Asian compared to 10.1% of the working-age population and 6.9% of the total population; and 7.4% are Black compared to only 4.4% of the working-age population and 3.0% of the total population.

Between 2009 and 2022, the percentage of NHS staff who were white went down from 84.1% to 74.3% and the percentage of NHS staff who were Asian went up from 7.3% to 12.5% – the biggest increase out of all ethnic groups

The first conclusion is that the NHS actually has a greater percentage of employees from ethnic minorities (25.6%) than in the working-age population (20.2%) and than in the general population. So, if the NHS is going to reflect the communities it serves, as it claims it wants to do, then clearly the NHS should employ more white people and fewer Asian and black people.

But, you say, aren’t most of the NHS ethnic minorities doing the more menial jobs while evil, ghastly white supremacists take all the top, best-paid jobs?

Well, here are the figures.

For professionally qualified clinical staff, only 68.7% were white compared to 80.7% of the working-age population and 87.1% of the total population; 15.9% were Asian compared to 10.1% of the working-age population and 6.9% of the total population; and 8.0% were black compared to only 4.4% of the working-age population and 3.0% of the total population.

Let’s just do one more category – qualified doctors: a mere 50.1% were white compared to 80.7% of the working-age population and 87.1% of the total population; an impressive 32.0% were Asian compared to 10.1% of the working-age population and 6.9% of the total population; and 5.9% were black compared to only 4.4% of the working-age population and 3.0% of the total population.

All these figures and many more are available on the Government website.

In summary, among all staff and in particular medical staff, white people are under-represented, Asians are hugely over-represented and black people also score well compared to their part of the working age and general population. Given the under-representation of whites compared to their share of the working age population and general population and the over-representation of Asians and blacks, some people might find it somewhat mysterious that the NHS spends an estimated £40.7 million a year, according to the Taxpayers Alliance, on over 810 DIE (Diversity, Inclusion and Equality) specialists and is currently busy hiring even more of these unnecessary people on salaries that our struggling NHS can ill-afford.

Coming back to the question that nobody nowadays would dare ask, ‘Is the NHS insufficiently white?’ – the official figures from the U.K. Government suggest the answer, according to their own terms, can only be ‘yes’.

David Craig is the author of There is No Climate Crisis, available as an e-book or paperback from Amazon.