The prime minister has ordered a review of antisemitism in the NHS, saying there are too many cases “simply not being dealt with”.
The review is part of a wider crackdown on antisemitism in the UK, which will also see all 1.5m NHS staff undergo mandatory updated antisemitism and anti-racism training.
Meanwhile, NHS England will review guidance on staff uniforms to “protect freedom of religious expression while ensuring patients feel respected at all times”, the Department of Health and Social Care said.
NHS England and other healthcare bodies will also be asked to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
Sir Keir also announced a £10 million boost for security at sites including synagogues and Jewish schools, sharing the news during a visit to the Community Security Trust (CST), which provides protection for Jewish communities in the UK.
“We have heard loud and clear in the last few days and weeks that words are not enough, action is what matters,” he said.
The NHS review – led by John Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism – is expected to focus on how healthcare regulators tackle antisemitism and other forms of racism.
Andrew Gilbert, vice-president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, has welcomed the review, saying Jewish staff and patients had felt “let down by the NHS while antisemitism has been allowed to flourish and thrive”.
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The PM last week said: ‘We must defeat antisemitism’
Sir Keir also said some universities have been “too slow” in dealing with cases of antisemitism.
He singled out the University of Oxford, which is understood to have suspended a student on Wednesday after he was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.
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The student is alleged to have chanted for Gaza to “put the Zios in the ground” at a protest in London on Saturday.
“That was a slow reaction to the clearest of cases,” the PM said.
Today’s announcement comes in the wake of a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue that left two men dead, and after new Home Office figures suggested antisemitic hate crime remains near record levels.
