The Real Cost of Silence - What the NHS Discrimination Crisis Reveals About Workplace Wellbeing

There is a crisis unfolding within the NHS and it has nothing to do with patient queues or budget cuts. 

Earlier this month, the BMJ Commission published a landmark report exposing the uncomfortable truth: racism and sexism are not isolated incidents within the NHS. They are embedded realities. And they are damaging not just to individuals, but to the entire healthcare system and, by extension, the public. 

It is easy to skim headlines and think, “That is an NHS issue.” But if you care about workplace wellbeing, psychological safety, and inclusion, you need to look deeper. Because this story is not just about the NHS. It is about what happens when any organisation lets exclusion, microaggressions and structural inequality become part of the norm. 

Starting With the Facts 

According to the BMJ Commission (July 2025), discrimination in the NHS has become “alarmingly normalised” (Phys.org, 2025). Some key findings include: 

• Staff across race and gender identities report experiencing routine discrimination, with little recourse or protection 

• Psychological distress, absenteeism, and even serious medical errors have been linked to toxic internal cultures 

• In one NHS Trust, bullying, harassment, racism, and power struggles among surgeons reportedly contributed to patient harm and prolonged staff sickness (The Times, 2025)

  
  

And here is the part that matters for every sector: the report did not blame a few bad actors. It blamed systemic failure, a culture where silence, indifference, and performative policies have replaced accountability. 

Beyond Bad Behaviour: This Is a Wellbeing Failure 

This is not just a diversity issue. It is a workplace wellbeing breakdown at the highest level. 

We talk a lot about burnout, stress, and retention challenges. But what do you expect when employees feel unsafe, unheard, or routinely undermined? 

When discrimination becomes embedded: 

• Staff disengage 

• Morale drops 

• People leave not just jobs, but entire sectors 

• And those who stay often carry the emotional labour of surviving a hostile environment 

  
  

Too many workplaces pride themselves on being inclusive,  yet fail to protect those most likely to be harmed. That is not inclusion. That is oversight with consequences. 

Three Hard Truths Employers Must Face 

This story forces us to confront uncomfortable realities that many organisations would rather avoid. 

1. You cannot ‘train away’ a toxic culture 

Bias training alone will not fix environments where leaders ignore concerns, or where policies are not enforced. It is not about knowing what inclusion is, it is about whether staff trust they will be believed and supported. 

2. Psychological safety is more than being ‘nice’ 

It is about whether someone can speak up without consequences. If someone raises a concern about racism or misogyny and finds themselves side lined, ignored, or gaslit – that is a breach of psychological safety. 

3. Wellbeing must include equity 

Workplace wellbeing cannot be separated from justice. You cannot run a yoga class or resilience webinar while ignoring the employee who is constantly being interrupted, excluded, or passed over for development. Wellbeing without equity is like plastering over a cracked foundation. 

An Opportunity to Rebuild  

The NHS crisis is a warning to every organisation what you ignore becomes culture. The things that are tolerated, brushed off, or quietly buried will shape how safe people feel and how well they function. 

But this also presents a unique opportunity. 

Every wellbeing strategy in 2025 should be asking.. 

• Do our staff feel safe enough to report discrimination 

• Do we protect whistleblowers or isolate them 

• Are our managers equipped to respond when racism, sexism, or bias is reported 

• Do our wellbeing efforts account for lived experience and power dynamics 

If the answer is no, you do not need another policy. You need a full reset. 

When you say nothing, you are still sending a message. 

When a system like the NHS, meant to protect health, fails its own workers so publicly, it forces a deeper reflection. Every employer has a choice. You can look away and hope no one notices. Or you can acknowledge the cracks before they become collapses. 

Not all harm looks like shouting or overt slurs. Sometimes it is in the long meetings where voices go unheard. The decisions made in back rooms. The complaints that go unanswered. The wellbeing check-ins that avoid the real issue. 

It is time to stop treating inclusion as something extra and start treating it as a core condition for workplace wellbeing.