Medical Council condemns racial abuse of healthcare workers

The Medical Council has condemned the “increasing trend” in targeting of healthcare workers, including “racial abuse of doctors, nurses, and healthcare assistants around the country”, and the deliberate targeting and killing of humanitarian healthcare workers in conflict zones around the world.

Speaking about the rise in racial abuse of healthcare workers in Ireland, Dr Maria O’Kane, CEO of the Medical Council said: “Here in Ireland, we have…seen an increase in reports of racial abuse towards our healthcare workers”.

“Our health service would collapse overnight if it wasn’t for our internationally trained colleagues and friends,” said Dr O’Kane. “It is vitally important that there is a zero-tolerance approach to racial abuse, especially in healthcare settings. I strongly encourage employers to ensure that supports are available and promoted for healthcare professionals who are victims of racial abuse and for those from countries engulfed in conflict.”

According to the Medical Council’s Workforce Intelligence Report 2024, 41.7 per cent of doctors clinically active in Ireland received their primary medical qualification outside of Ireland.

Looking globally, Dr O’Kane said that “we have recently seen blatant breaches of international law in Sudan, Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine, amongst other countries, with the targeting of healthcare workers and health facilities.”

“Last week, the WHO condemned the killing of 460 patients and their companions in a hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, in addition to the abduction of six healthcare workers. Two days earlier Saudi Maternity Hospital, the only partially functioning hospital in El Fasher, was attacked for the fourth time in a month, killing one nurse and injuring three other healthcare workers. Throughout the conflict in Gaza, hospitals and hospital staff have been regularly targeted, resulting in a situation where healthcare is not accessible for so many due to the destruction of hospitals and clinics.”

According to the Medical Council, there are 1,240 doctors clinically active in Ireland with a primary qualification from Sudan.

“Since the first of January this year, there have been 1,146 attacks on healthcare facilities, healthcare workers, patients, supplies, warehouses and healthcare transport, resulting in 1,785 deaths and 1,014 injuries in 16 countries across the globe, according to the WHO Surveillance System for Attacks on Healthcare,” said Dr O’Kane. “This is simply unacceptable and should be condemned widely.”

“We must be cognisant of doctors from these conflict zones working here in Ireland, caring for us and our families while worrying about their loved ones and families still living in areas impacted by war and aggression, or who have been displaced.”