Nurses are now travelling in groups to and from work to try and avoid racially motivated abuse, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has said.

The claim by the INMO comes after new figures show that hospital staff have been subjected to racial abuse or prejudice on almost 200 occasions in the past five years.

Figures released to The Journal Investigates by the HSE show that the number of incidents of discrimination, prejudice or racial abuse aimed at staff has risen each year, peaking with 59 reports last year

Most of the 183 incidents recorded since the start of 2021 are classified as ‘negligible’, with 19 deemed minor in nature, although the HSE said that “any incident that impacts any member of staff is unacceptable.”

Investigative Journalist at The Journal Investigates, Noel Baker, joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this.

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