NHS staff told to stop wearing uniforms at pro-Palestinian demonstrations

[Twiglets1]

Article in The Telegraph yesterday (behind paywall):

NHS staff will be told to stop wearing their work uniforms on marches and displaying pro-Palestinian badges in the workplace as part of a crackdown on anti-Semitism in the health service.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, revealed the plans as he vowed to snuff out “the appalling experiences of anti-Semitism affecting Jewish staff and patients” in the NHS.

The Health Secretary has encouraged trusts to roll out wider anti-Semitism training in the workplace. Such training has already been provided to some NHS organisations by the Anti-Semitism Policy Trust.

Following concerns over anti-Semitic activities in medical schools, Mr Streeting has said they should be adhering to wider university sector guidance on stamping out such behaviour.

In December, he vowed in The Telegraph to have medics struck off the medical register if they brought “racist or extreme views” about the Gaza conflict into the workplace.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Actions speak louder than words, which is why we are working with the NHS to put concrete measures in place to stamp out discrimination and protect Jewish staff and patients.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/05/10/nhs-streeting-staff-uniforms-protests/

The neutrality isn't specifically about Palestine, only in this example. At election time , the NHS isn't allowed to show support for any party either. I vote in my own clothes, not in uniform. I will only wear a trust lanyard, I won't put my pronouns in my email. I work to look after patients only. My views are not relevant at that time and I don't want to intimidate someone into thinking they can't ask me for anything.

If someone wore a star of David on their uniform in our 'diverse' trust there would ostracism and people bowling for action. Our Jewish staff do not wear re litmus symbology for fear of comment or bias. Our faith centre is no longer designated as a place for both Jewish and Muslim worship. Now people want to wear Palestinian colours despite part of their population being lead by a heinous terrorist group. The systemaric killing of Jews at the move festivsl.was her holocaust of 30s Germany in microcosm so why do people not see the problem with wearing Palestine lapel badges?

Religious

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/nhs-crackdown-on-political-symbols-welcomed-after-board-of-deputies-raises-alarm-over-antisemitism-oq517epq

Sensible brown up decision making.

Good- demos in support of terrorists shouldn’t feature work uniforms!

I was always told that uniforms shouldn't be work outside of the hospitals.

I have worked in many places with a uniform. You shouldn't be l seen anywhere representing your work place that's political, smoking outside, being drunk in s pub etc. It's just not professional

off the top of my head

That they’re thoughtless, don’t understand how to behave professionally and need it to be explained to them

That they’re so wedded to the way they think they genuinely believe they are doing the right thing - consciously or unconsciously believing that others’ views aren’t worthy of respect

That they’re massive virtue signallers and show-offs who must see themselves as righteous at all times

That they don’t mind patients potentially feeling intimidated or even threatened when they are in a hospital or care setting

That they have very limited insight into how others think - which is a bit worrying in a healthcare setting

NHS staff shouldn't be wearing uniforms at political protests. It's not about Gaza specifically.

and yes I have been told that if you don't support Hamas as the legitimate resistance in Palestine, you don't support Palestine, you are pro-genocide. I am Jewish and support Palestinian rights. I can't post what people call me without breaking site rules.

I'll make a note that apparently you think it's okay to call random Jews Nazis, thousands of miles away from where people are actually being killed.

that was absolutely uncalled for, especially as it was said in response to someone actually asking if people supported Hamas.

As they should

I feel this way.

Thd rainbow no longer signifies what it used to.

It now signifies men pushing women aside.

Rose a male asking a female nurse why she isn't getting changed whilst standing there in his boxer shorts.

Karen White male raping women in a woman's prison.

Cheating men taking medals from women.

A male teacher telling off a 9 year old child for calling him sir and forgetting he was a non binary teacher.

...this shit has captured the rainbow and soiled it. I'd never wear a rainbow now. It no longer means what it used to mean.

Very sorry to hear you have suffered racial abuse like that.

It’s crazy to me that people would think people are pro-genocide just because they don’t support Hamas. Even some brave Palestinian people living in Gaza are protesting against Hamas!

I support Palestinian rights and Jewish rights. I don’t think Hamas are doing Palestinian civilians in Gaza any favours at all, quite the opposite.

I should I would be equally sympathetic to it. And yes I was being sarcastic because I stand by the fact that children being bombed to pieces and buried under rubble is worse than adult name calling. I feel sorry for you if you can't see that.

Good - no staff at any employer should be wearing political badges nor attending political events in uniform.

I agree this should be stopped.
Last year we had to take FIL to A&E after a fall and I was shocked to see a doctor wearing pro-Palestinian badges, it made me feel very uncomfortable. I worked in the NHS for many years and would never have dreamed of subjecting patients to my political views.
Dealing with unwell, often elderly and often confused patients is not a time to be showing allegiances

Effectively with the current Gazan leadership you are showing some sort of alliegance to a terrorist organisation by displaying the flag. Not a great look for NHS staff

Jews in the NHS I expect are going out of their way to not stand out as overly Jewish which is a shocking state of affairs.

We don't need Palestinian regalia in UK hospitals thanks you.

So it's ok to punish a 2 million people, half of them kids just because of the leadership? It's ok to torture, kidnap, murder health care professionals? It's ok to ignore children being sniped in the head? It's ok for doctors without borders to be attacked?

Where did this Gazan leadership come from? The same leadership that was supported by Israel when it benefited it. That leadership stemmed from years of ethnic cleansing. History didn't start on oct 7th. Innocent children had no say in who got elected.

Palestinians are human too. I'd like to think in this day and age people should be vocal against genocide of ANYONE. To me this doesn't fall under th3 category of a "different political view"

Putting on a Palestinian badge is brave and it's saying you stand against genocide. It means you care about everyone, all humans.

I really wonder what all the posters here would have done during the holocaust.

Please read Genocide Bad by Sim Kern. She's a Jewish author who has written about the current genocide:

It's because health care workers are deliberately targeted

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/01/1158741

The fact is this is the UK and there is quite correct guidance about the overt display of political symbols in the NHS. Imagine how much confidence we would have in the NH S is half the staff were Palestinian colours and the rest Israeli flags. This is the NH S not a bloody war zone and can I repeat these are two different nations.

They are absolutely NOT hate marches, I've been to so many and it full of such a diverse set of people, including a massive and diverse Jewish bloc and descendents of holocaust survivors as well as holocaust survivors speaking at the marches. Even Michael Rosen has spoken at these marches.

And just because people support the right for Palestinians to not face a genocide does not mean they support terrorists.

Stop spreading misinformation.

work life and personal life are supposed to be kept separate. no one should be identifying their employer while engaging in advocacy or protest unless they are protesting the employer or as part of their employment.

Has there been any pro-Israel protests with NHS staff in uniform?

It’s disgusting it’s taken this long to tell them to stop tbh. They’ve been doing it since the start of the conflict and it was obviously condoned as they seem to have felt very comfortable publicly doing so. Some pressure must have been put on senior NHS leadership to stop it.

I guess they want to try to portray themselves as upstanding professionals while chanting inflammatory slogans through megaphones in support of a large scale terrorist attack against Jewish people while annoyingly banging drums.

I’d be extremely worried about needing medical care from the NHS if I was obviously Jewish, by name etc, having seen that.

I don’t doubt that there would have been an immediate crackdown if there was a large scale terrorist attack in the West and there were NHS staff protesting in support of the terrorists, not that any marches would have approved anyway you’d hope, unlike the ones approved on Oct 7th 2023 while the attack on Israel was actually still taking place.